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Abdominal Scan Showed Fatty Liver Infiltration And Calcific Focus. Blood Test Showed HCV Positive. Could It Be False Positive?
Question: hi Iam 29 yrs old man,1 month back i went for a blood donation. After blood donation the blood bank people called me and told I have to give blood samples for test once again. The next day they told me I am HCV reactive and they guided me to a Gastroenterologist. The doctor told me to do HCV RNA PCR qualitative test,liver function test and abdominal scanning. and the PCR test came as negative,Liver function test came normal,abdominal scanning showed mild fatty liver infiltration and a well defined calcific focus 7.2mm in right lobe of liver . The doctor told me the antibody test may be false positive also and asked me to repeat HCV antibody and HCV pcr test once again after 6 months. My question is
1. I never been involved in the risky behaviors as mentioned how HCV transferred,I never used intravenous Drugs I never involved in any sex.I never had blood transfusion.I never had any tatoo or any thing else.I am in low risk region probably no risk region then how I can be positive of hcv anti bodies. Is that could be false positive?
2. 15 days back I had a loose motions for 2 days and it went away. my father was not well i went to look after him for his angiogram test ,mean while in the hospital i checked my BP at that time my BP was 130/90, and from past 1 week i have pain in right abdomen just below the rib cage. I can feel the pain when I touch that area can these be symptoms for HCV Am I having Hepatatis-c?. I am worried from past 1 month whats going on with me can any one help me . If I have what the total cost for treatment in India. thanks in advance for reply
1. I never been involved in the risky behaviors as mentioned how HCV transferred,I never used intravenous Drugs I never involved in any sex.I never had blood transfusion.I never had any tatoo or any thing else.I am in low risk region probably no risk region then how I can be positive of hcv anti bodies. Is that could be false positive?
2. 15 days back I had a loose motions for 2 days and it went away. my father was not well i went to look after him for his angiogram test ,mean while in the hospital i checked my BP at that time my BP was 130/90, and from past 1 week i have pain in right abdomen just below the rib cage. I can feel the pain when I touch that area can these be symptoms for HCV Am I having Hepatatis-c?. I am worried from past 1 month whats going on with me can any one help me . If I have what the total cost for treatment in India. thanks in advance for reply
Hello XXXXXXX
Thanks for query.
You have two queries.
1st query answer is in two parts 1a and 1b
1a....Hepatitis C is believed to be transmitted only by blood. However, unlike many other blood borne viruses (like HIV) virtually any source of blood or blood products seems to be capable of carrying the virus, even if the source is indirect - like a used razor, for example. This makes hepatitis C far more transmissible than most other blood borne viruses - including HIV.
Tattooing, as well as many body piercing practices, such as acupuncture and ear-piercing, have contributed significantly to the spread of HCV, even in industrial nations. Needle-stick injuries, contaminated medical equipment, and blood spills in health caresettings are also responsible for many cases of HCV.
The most significant risk behavior for HCV infection is drug use, particularly I.V. drug use, and is responsible for about 30-40% of all identified cases of hepatitis C.
Heterosexual or homosexual activity with multiple sexual partners has been clearly identified as a mode of transmission, but the exact risk is unknown.
Day-to-day contact with another household member that has hepatitis C has also been strongly implicated
Certain specialized risks have also been identified - such as manicures, shared toothbrushes, or straight razors in barber shops.
In more than 40% of all cases, the infected individuals cannot identify a source for their infection. It is believed that most of these are due to known risk factors - however, in more than 10% of all cases, no risk factor can be identified. There are clearly other, as yet unidentified modes of transmission.
1b.... To determine if hepatitis C antibodies (HCAb or anti-HCV) are in your blood, doctors use a screening test called ELISA, which stands for Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay.
The ELISA test is very sensitive and picks up approximately 95% of people who have antibodies as positive. However, it's so sensitive that sometimes it over-identifies antibodies in your blood as geared towards hepatitis C even sometimes when they're not. This degree of sensitivity has its advantages. For instance, when the ELISA test is negative, you can feel very confident that you are hepatitis C free. However, if the ELISA test is positive, there is a small possibility that the result could be incorrect. This is called a "false-positive" result. False-positives are most likely considered in people who lack the risk factors for hepatitis C.
When the ELISA test is weakly positive or when doctors think the test result doesn't match what they see clinically, a second test may be used to verify the original results. This test may be the RIBA test or another test, called HCV RNA, that directly measures the virus.
2... Your don't seem to have hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C have different symptoms so stop worrying and moreover your investigations have not yielded any positive result about hepatitis C.
Your pain seems to probably your over anxiety or may be mild enlargement of liver.Calcific focus could be a benign calcified liver cyst which should be explored
By a CT scan abdomen.
Consult a Gastroenterologist for this calcifica lesion.
I hope to have answered you in detail and feel that you should be satisfied however you can revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks
Thanks for query.
You have two queries.
1st query answer is in two parts 1a and 1b
1a....Hepatitis C is believed to be transmitted only by blood. However, unlike many other blood borne viruses (like HIV) virtually any source of blood or blood products seems to be capable of carrying the virus, even if the source is indirect - like a used razor, for example. This makes hepatitis C far more transmissible than most other blood borne viruses - including HIV.
Tattooing, as well as many body piercing practices, such as acupuncture and ear-piercing, have contributed significantly to the spread of HCV, even in industrial nations. Needle-stick injuries, contaminated medical equipment, and blood spills in health caresettings are also responsible for many cases of HCV.
The most significant risk behavior for HCV infection is drug use, particularly I.V. drug use, and is responsible for about 30-40% of all identified cases of hepatitis C.
Heterosexual or homosexual activity with multiple sexual partners has been clearly identified as a mode of transmission, but the exact risk is unknown.
Day-to-day contact with another household member that has hepatitis C has also been strongly implicated
Certain specialized risks have also been identified - such as manicures, shared toothbrushes, or straight razors in barber shops.
In more than 40% of all cases, the infected individuals cannot identify a source for their infection. It is believed that most of these are due to known risk factors - however, in more than 10% of all cases, no risk factor can be identified. There are clearly other, as yet unidentified modes of transmission.
1b.... To determine if hepatitis C antibodies (HCAb or anti-HCV) are in your blood, doctors use a screening test called ELISA, which stands for Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay.
The ELISA test is very sensitive and picks up approximately 95% of people who have antibodies as positive. However, it's so sensitive that sometimes it over-identifies antibodies in your blood as geared towards hepatitis C even sometimes when they're not. This degree of sensitivity has its advantages. For instance, when the ELISA test is negative, you can feel very confident that you are hepatitis C free. However, if the ELISA test is positive, there is a small possibility that the result could be incorrect. This is called a "false-positive" result. False-positives are most likely considered in people who lack the risk factors for hepatitis C.
When the ELISA test is weakly positive or when doctors think the test result doesn't match what they see clinically, a second test may be used to verify the original results. This test may be the RIBA test or another test, called HCV RNA, that directly measures the virus.
2... Your don't seem to have hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C have different symptoms so stop worrying and moreover your investigations have not yielded any positive result about hepatitis C.
Your pain seems to probably your over anxiety or may be mild enlargement of liver.Calcific focus could be a benign calcified liver cyst which should be explored
By a CT scan abdomen.
Consult a Gastroenterologist for this calcifica lesion.
I hope to have answered you in detail and feel that you should be satisfied however you can revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
thank you sir for the reply.
Sir the other symptoms like nausea, vomiting was common to me from past 15 yrs as remember when every I have some masala food i used to get these symptoms. And nausea will go off when i feel my stomach is free. but this loose motion what I had 2 weeks back just like watery motion and abdomen pain is first time.that I felt it recently. Regarding my Habits I donot smoke and I do not drink. but i regularly have coffee and tea twice a day.
1. Regarding mild fatty liver even if our BMI is normal do we have fatty liver( I eat more sweets. from past 2 yrs I used to have pizzas more weekly once).
2. As my test result tells that I dont have Hepatitis c. But to confirm this I have to repeat the same test after 6 months?
3. In our Indian blood banks whether they will conduct RIBA test?. I do not know what they have done in preliminary screening
thank you very much for reply sir any way I will contact Gastroenterologist for further this as you suggested. I really worried from past 1 month sir.
Sir the other symptoms like nausea, vomiting was common to me from past 15 yrs as remember when every I have some masala food i used to get these symptoms. And nausea will go off when i feel my stomach is free. but this loose motion what I had 2 weeks back just like watery motion and abdomen pain is first time.that I felt it recently. Regarding my Habits I donot smoke and I do not drink. but i regularly have coffee and tea twice a day.
1. Regarding mild fatty liver even if our BMI is normal do we have fatty liver( I eat more sweets. from past 2 yrs I used to have pizzas more weekly once).
2. As my test result tells that I dont have Hepatitis c. But to confirm this I have to repeat the same test after 6 months?
3. In our Indian blood banks whether they will conduct RIBA test?. I do not know what they have done in preliminary screening
thank you very much for reply sir any way I will contact Gastroenterologist for further this as you suggested. I really worried from past 1 month sir.
Hello
Fatty liver can occur in a person with normal BMI.
both RIBA and HCV RNA are done in Indian laboratories.
Best of luck
Thanks
Fatty liver can occur in a person with normal BMI.
both RIBA and HCV RNA are done in Indian laboratories.
Best of luck
Thanks
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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