Epidemiology

Hepatitis C is a communicable disease affecting the liver that is produced by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Hepatitis C causes liver inflammation, which makes it function incorrectly.

Transmission

Hepatitis C is spread through contact with the blood and unlike hepatitis B, it is not transmitted through semen or any other bodily fluid of an infected person.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms are fever, diarrhea, fatigue, feeling of pain in the hepatic area or itching all over the body.
It does not usually present with jaundice.

Complications

Hepatitis C has an initial acute phase of between 3 to 6 months before it becomes chronic. Its diagnosis is fundamentally clinical because the symptomatology is not often revealing. If this pathology goes undetected, it may lead to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis or even liver cancer.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms are fever, diarrhea, fatigue, feeling of pain in the hepatic area or itching all over the body.
It does not usually present with jaundice.

Complications

Hepatitis C has an initial acute phase of between 3 to 6 months before it becomes chronic. Its diagnosis is fundamentally clinical because the symptomatology is not often revealing. If this pathology goes undetected, it may lead to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis or even liver cancer.

• Medical history with symptomatology and detail of the history of drug intake.
• Clinical testing which controls the levels of:
  • Transaminases
  • Alkaline phosphatase
  • Viral load (if appropriate)
  • Generated antibodies (if appropriate)
• BREATH TEST: The breath test is used to diagnose liver diseases and to investigate hepatic microsomal biotransformation. The substrate used will be metabolized in order to finally produce CO₂. The breath test allows determining quantitative parameters of the liver function (kinetics and capacity) through measuring the breath ¹³CO₂/¹²CO₂ ratio.

• ¹³C-METHACETIN
• ¹³C-D-GALACTOSE
• ¹³C-AMINOPYRINE
• ¹³C-L- METHIONINE

• Klatt S, Taut C, Mayer D et al. (1997): Evaluation of the 13C-Methacetin Breath Test for Quantitative Liver Function Testing
  Z Gastroenterol 35, 609 – 615
• Grieco A, Armuzzi A, Miele L et al. (2000): ¹³C-Methacetin Breath Test in Patients with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis after Hypocaloric Diet Therapy
  Gut 47 (Suppl III) A163
• Matsumoto, Suehiro, IIO, Kawabe, Shiratori, Okano, Sugimoto. ¹³C-Methacetin Breath Test for evaluation of liver damage.
  Digestive Diseases and Science, Vol. 32 Nº 4 (April 1987), pp. 334 – 348
• L. Spahr, F. Negro, M. Jordan, A. Hadengue¹³C-L-Methionine Liver Function Breath Test. Non-Invasive Evaluation of Liver Mitochondrial Function by Methionine Breath Test.
  Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatologie, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. Hepatologie (199) vol. 30, pag. 321A (abstract 643)
• M.A. Zocco, G. Angelini, M. Candelli, B. Nardo, C. Di Campli, A. Armuzzi, M. Bernardi, A. Cavallari, G. Gasbarrini, A. Gasbarrini: Methionine Breath Test to Assess Mitochondrial Liver Function After Orthotopic Liver Transplantation.
  Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Italy. Journal of Hepatology Supplement Nº 1, Vol. 34, 2001. Abstracts of the 36th Annual meeting of the European Association for the study of the liver, April 18-22, 2001, Prague, Czech Republic, INDEX 1048
• Schneider, Schoeller, Nemchausky, Boyer, Klein (1978): Validation of ¹³CO₂ Breath Analysis as a measurement of demethylation of stable isotope labelled aminopyrine.
  Clinica Chimica Acta, 84, 153 – 162
• Armuzzi, Gasbarrini, Marcoccia, Grieco, Sanz Torre, Miele, De Curtis, Anti, Pola, Gasbarrini: The ¹³C-aminopyrine breath test to assess hepatic function in HCV-related chronic liver disease.
  Italian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, National Congress of Digestive Diseases, 14 – 18 November 1998, Milan (Italy), Nº 6
• Wikipedia