Ask Your Questions About-HCV! of our Hepatitis Experts:

When should I do a biopsy? (Hep C - 1 million
viral load)

Dr. Chung, Is a liver biopsy done before treatment with medications (Peg-Intron & Interferon), after, or both? Is it preferable to have a Hepatologist vs a GI man? I'm scared, but from reading the questions and answers listed here, I can see that I'm better off with treatment. Thank you for being available to me. S.B.

Dr.Chung writes--

Typically it is (a biopsy) done before treatment to understand how severe the liver disease may be. However, for some patients who have favorable likelihood of treatment response (genotype 2 or 3), it may make sense to simply treat and biopsy only those who do not get sustained response.

In general hepatologists are also GI people, but if you have someone dedicated to liver disease that may be advantageous. RC