Different labs, even different labs within the same franchise, often use different tests, instruments, and laboratory personnel and each can introduce a small amount of variability. Most labs though have a fairly reliable degree of accuracy and precision. For accuracy, consider a dart board with a dart in the centre. For precision over a number of tests using the same sample think of a dart board with a cluster of darts on the board but not necessarily in the centre. What you would prefer obviously is that a test(s) was both 100% accurate and precise, clustered darts in the centre, but it just isn’t possible. Lab results tend to be accurate and precise enough, especially if you use the same lab all the time. If they weren’t, pathology labs would lose accreditation. With most results, the important thing usually is how they change over time rather than the actual numbers themselves.

So, different labs have different ranges because they’ve factored in their equipment and their methodology, the equipment they do tests with and how they do it.

So both stage 1. That’s good. Took segment 6 with me.

S? RFAblation – radiologist pleased & CT last week with results at monitoring visit next week and no urgent calls so sounds good. Pretty much the same comments as you. Failed Peg/riba 2013 so close monitoring. Bloods went silly this year so u/s upped to MRI and CT and confirmed #1. Came out clean so thought okay. First 3mth scan in Sept picked up the other one. Found Greg then the club the same week as doc called me and here I am.

G

Sounds like you’ve been well-handled. Cool stuff. The AbbVie meds have put my AFP into low normal range, which means no suss cells.

All the best!

Yeah, they were, mate. AST wasn’t too bad but ALT was in the 200s and GGT about 300. I was lucky enough to get into the first AbbVie compassionate access program but there were months of red tape. The TGA had to pass individual treatment plans, something which had never been done in Australia before for HCV+. Seemed clear there’d be no problems (HIV+ had done it), but geez, it was a stressful time. And then there were some problems getting the meds from where they’d been made. It was all a really nervous time and the stress was bad. Sent my LFTs through the roof sky-high at a time when my liver seemed to be transitioning Child-Pugh A —> B. Technically that would’ve made my place in the Access dicey since they were only treating compensated cirrhosis. I lost weight. It was a bad time. I had some edema and ascite which got much worse until I restricted sodium, and numbers of key markers were mostly going south.

Got the drugs and felt unbelievably better within the first week. Mind fog cleared, I had more energy. depression I didn’t even know I had lifted, appetite improved, lots of other stuff. Just turned me around. Not that it really matters but I was UND by week 5. Never panicked about bloods after that because I simply knew the filth had gone. I felt too good, and having relapsed before I know how that feels.

My liver dude is really optimistic, feels that I should experience considerable regression of my situation. Having read a bunch of recent studies I’m not so sure, numbers say it’s about the toss of a coin for significant regression, but hey, I’ll take it

Cheers!

I don’t think that’s correct. The inflammation adds significantly to the “stiffness” as well. It’s late here but I’ll try to find something in the Lit tomorrow. Personal anecdote: I recently treated and SVRed with the AbbVie meds (EOT January). My baseline fibroscan was 60.4. It was checked again when I had week 24 follow-up bloods done.and was 29.2. Still quite bad obviously but much, much better than baseline. Possible there was a little improvement in the histology but the only real explanation for the difference was cessation of inflammation. Same person ran both scans. 10 passes each time.

LondonGirl, a VL drop of 2.5M to 900K is only about 0.4 of a log and isn’t significant. VL can vary quite a lot day to day, and certainly over months.

If you”boost” your immune system somehow, ie make it work better, then you are more likely to have less liver damage. It’s correct that your immune response will take out infected liver cells however a decent immune response is more likely to act like a sniper whilst a response that isn’t so good like a shotgun.

Except in special circumstances with genotype 3 (steatosis), viral load has no correlation with liver damage, and thus no correlation with ALT.

edit: reply is to a post at beginning of thread.

More on topic: Extra-hepatic manifestations of HCV: https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwialtPxk87JAhWE56YKHXpUA7gQFggiMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcvadvocate.org%2Fhepatitis%2Ffactsheets_pdf%2Fextrahepatic.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEwpORbaAP0t0w42oruo-g0_wq2Jg&sig2=zcAyK4XnUEiXc3dEzsCJPg