Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis - Hepatitis C

How is the disease diagnosed?

The healthcare provider may suspect hepatitis C after doing a physical examination and checking liver function tests. Another blood test, often drawn at the same time as the liver function tests, can confirm that hepatitis C is the cause of the symptoms.

Chronic hepatitis can be diagnosed with a liver biopsy. Specimens from the biopsy can be graded in terms of severity. Liver biopsies may have to be done repeatedly to detect progression of the disease or response to therapy.