Hepatitis c, chronic

[Dianne]

Chronic hepatitis C is inflammation of the liver that is caused by the hepatitis C virus and that has lasted more than 6 months.

Hepatitis C often causes no symptoms until after it has badly damaged the liver.
Doctors diagnose chronic hepatitis C based on blood tests.
If chronic hepatitis C has caused cirrhosis, screening for liver cancer is done every 6 months.
Chronic hepatitis C is treated with antiviral drugs.

(See also Overview of Hepatitis, Overview of Chronic Hepatitis, and Hepatitis C, Acute.)
Acute hepatitis C becomes chronic in about 75% of affected people.
An estimated 2.7 to 3.9 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C. Worldwide, 71 million people are estimated to have chronic hepatitis C.
Chronic hepatitis C, if untreated, causes cirrhosis in about 20 to 30% of people. However, cirrhosis may take decades to develop. The risk of liver cancer is increased usually only if cirrhosis is present.
There are different types (genotypes 1 through 6) of hepatitis C virus, which are sometimes treated with different drugs.

[Ernesto]

Hepatitis C is a common cause of chronic hepatitis. It is often asymptomatic until manifestations of chronic liver disease occur. Treatment is with direct-acting antiviral drugs; permanent elimination of detectable viral RNA is possible.
(See also Causes of Hepatitis, Overview of Chronic Hepatitis, and Acute Hepatitis C.)
Hepatitis lasting gt; 6 months is generally defined as chronic hepatitis, although this duration is arbitrary.
There are 6 major genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV), which vary in their response to treatment. Genotype 1 is more common than genotypes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6; it accounts for 70 to 80% of cases of chronic hepatitis C in the US.
Acute hepatitis C becomes chronic in about 75% of patients. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 2.4 million people in the US have chronic hepatitis C infection (1). Worldwide, 71 million people are estimated to have chronic hepatitis C (2).
Chronic hepatitis C progresses to cirrhosis in 20 to 30% of patients; cirrhosis often takes decades to appear. Hepatocellular carcinoma can result from HCV-induced cirrhosis but results only rarely from chronic infection without cirrhosis (unlike in chronic HBV infection).
Up to 20% of patients with alcoholic liver disease harbor HCV. The reasons for this high association are unclear because concomitant alcohol and drug use accounts for only a portion of cases. In these patients, HCV and alcohol act synergistically to worsen liver inflammation and fibrosis.