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Overview

If you have chronic hepatitis C and don't get it treated, it can lead to serious conditions like scarring of your liver (known as cirrhosis) or, in rare cases, liver cancer. A team of doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals can give you treatment and care to help keep that from happening. Which doctor is best for hepatitis? Hepatologist: A gastroenterologist with extensive training in liver disease is a hepatologist. These physicians are subspecialists with many years of training and are experts in all the diseases that affect the liver, especially hepatitis. Doctors typically use one or more of the following tests to assess liver damage in chronic hepatitis C. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE): A noninvasive alternative to a liver biopsy (see below), MRE combines magnetic resonance imaging technology with patterns formed by sound waves bouncing off the liver to create a visual map showing gradients of stiffness throughout the liver. Stiff liver tissue indicates the presence of scarring of the liver (fibrosis) as a result of chronic hepatitis C. Transient elastography: Another noninvasive test, transient elastography is a type of ultrasound that transmits vibrations into the liver and measures the speed of their dispersal through liver tissue to estimate its stiffness. Liver biopsy: Typically done using ultrasound guidance, this test involves inserting a thin needle through the abdominal wall to remove a small sample of liver tissue for laboratory testing. Blood tests. A series of blood tests can indicate the extent of fibrosis in your liver. Call us at (347) 441-4970.