Doctor says my Hep C has returned - but I disagree

[cementjungle]

I moved to another state about 4 months ago, and finally got hooked up with a new general practice doctor. He sent me for the usual blood work, and I asked that they add the Hep C tests (including the quantitative) because I just did the treatment last summer/fall (I was still ND as of January before I moved).

I then had my appointment with my new doc and all the results had come back except for the quantitative part. He went over my results, and explained that the HepC antibody test will always show positive, which I knew.

So, today I call the office and ask if the Quantitative part had come back yet.... they said yes, but had to talk to the doc to get permission to tell me results over phone. They call back and say "Your Hep C has returned... you are active again".

My heart sank.... I am about 9 months post treatment. I asked that they email me the test results, which they did.

I'm looking at the thing... and it says under the results in range column:

REAL TIME PCR
HCV RNA, QUANTITATIVE  < 15 NOT DETECTED
  REAL TIME PCR               < 1.18 NOT DETECTED

So.... am I going crazy, or is this doctor just an idiot???

[Lynn K]

If that is your most recent test result I think you need to discuss this with your new doctor and educate them on how to interpret a HCV RNA by PCR test result. Many general practitioners are not up to speed on hep c testing.

Was this discussion with your doctor or their nurse? Did you ask how they interpretate this result as a positive result?

Not detected as you likely know means the test cannot detect any virus in your blood and the <15 IU/mL and the same number in logarithmic form <1.18 log IU/mL is the LLOQ the lower limit of quantification of the test. Basically, the lowest level of virus the test can detect. The LLOQ describes the capability of the test it is not your result.

Your result was not detected. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Here is an article on the subject from the Mayo Clinic hopefully that will inform and educate your doctor.

https://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-catalog/Clinical+and+Interpretive/97291

“Interpretation
This assay has a result range of 15 to 100,000,000 IU/mL (1.18 log to 8.00 log IU/mL) for quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in serum.
 
An "Undetected" result indicates that the HCV is absent in the patient's serum specimen.”

If you can please try to educate your doctor before they unnecessarily scare other patients. If you can’t get your doctor to understand this I would look for a new, new doctor.