Category | Disease | Blood tests carried out on all members of the cohort (to diagnose or screen for the disease) | Method by which diagnosis was made in screen positive cases |
---|---|---|---|
Hepatocellular diseases | Chronic viral hepatitis C | Hepatitis C virus antibody (HCV Ab) | Viral marker positive and hepatologist's opinion |
Chronic viral hepatitis B | Hepatitis B surface viral antigen (HBV surface Ag) | Viral marker positive and hepatologist's opinion | |
Metal storage disease: Iron (haemochromatosis) | Transferrin levels | Genotype performed on patient if transferrin saturation >50% | |
Autoimmune hepatitis | Smooth muscle antibody | Raised antibodies and ALT or AST or globulin exceeding twice the upper limit of normal. Confirmed by the hepatologist's opinion | |
Metal storage disease: Copper (Wilson's disease) | Caeruloplasmin | Low levels of caeruloplasmin and hepatologist's opinion | |
α-1 Antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency | A1AT level | Phenotype testing performed if A1AT abnormal | |
Alcoholic/fat-induced cirrhosis or hepatocellular cancer (HCC) | N/A | Abdominal ultrasound+exclusion of other diseases in this table and hepatologist's opinion | |
Intrahepatobiliary duct disease | Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) | Antimitochondrial antibody | Anti-mitochondrial antibodies (≥1:40 titre) and hepatologist's opinion |
Primary sclerosing cholangitis | N/A | Combination raised ALP and ulcerative colitis. Confirmed by hepatologist's opinion |
Previously undiagnosed cirrhosis of other causes was also included in this category.
*We did not include the benign condition Gilbert's syndrome in any disease category.