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Hepatitis C SerologyAka: Hepatitis C Antibody, Hepatitis C Virus Antibody, Anti-HCV RNA, xHCV Antibody, xHCV Ab, xHCV IgG, RT-PCR for HCV RNA, EIA for Anti-HCV

See Also
1. Hepatitis C
Course of Anti-HCV Antibody
1. Present in up to 70% at onset of symptoms
2. Present in 90% of cases at 3 months
3. Present in most cases by 6 months post-exposure
Screening Tests
1. ELISA-1 (replaced by ELISA-2)
  1. Detects seroconversion 15-20 weeks after exposure
  2. Sensitivity: 81-89%
  3. Specificity: Poor (High rate of false positives)
2. ELISA-2 (preferred Screening Test)
  1. First line test
  2. Detects seroconversion 1-6 weeks after exposure
  3. Efficacy improved over ELISA-1
    1. Test Sensitivity: 99%
    2. Test Specificity: 99%
  4. False negative tests if immunocompromised
Confirmatory Tests
1. RIBA-2 (replaced by RT-PCR for confirmation)
  1. Indication: confirm Elisa-2 (RT-PCR preferred)
  2. Small advantage over ELISA-2
2. Reverse transcriptase PCR for HCV RNA (RT-PCR)
  1. Indication: RIBA is indeterminate
  2. Best available diagnostic test
  3. Sensitivity: High
    1. Detects very low serum and tissue levels
    2. Qualitative test detects HCV to 5-50 copies/ml
  4. Specificity: High
  5. Disadvantages
    1. Expensive
    2. Requires flawless technique for accurate results

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD, and was last revised 1/26/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.