Late Presentation for Care Among Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Janne Fuglsang Hansen; Sofie Hallager; Anne Øvrehus; Nina Weis; Peer Brehm Christensen; Court Pedersen

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofx257

Late Presentation for Care Among Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2017 Nov 22;5(1):ofx257. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofx257. eCollection 2018 Jan.

Authors

Janne Fuglsang Hansen^{1

2}, Sofie Hallager³, Anne Øvrehus^{1

2}, Nina Weis^{3

4}, Peer Brehm Christensen^{1

2}, Court Pedersen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
² Clinical Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense.
³ Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark.
⁴ Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Abstract

Patients with chronic hepatitis C may have advanced fibrosis at first evaluation. Using the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) definition (FibroScan® >9.5 kPa) for "late presenter for care" (LP), we found that 32% (169 of 527) of patients were LP. Being a LP was associated with increasing age and a history of alcohol overuse.

Keywords: chronic hepatitis C; cirrhosis; fibrosis; late presentation; liver stiffness measurement.