Investigations
Diagnostic tests for acute HBV infection include:
- HBsAg
- anti-HBc lgM and anti-HBs
- HBV DNA
- ALT
- bilirubin
- INR (1)
Arrange the following tests in primary care for patients who are hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive:
- hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)/antibody (anti-HBe) status
- HBV DNA level
- IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc lgM)
- hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV)
- hepatitis delta virus antibody (anti-HDV)
- HIV antibody (anti-HIV)
- lgG antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV)
- additional laboratory tests including
- alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
- gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT)
- serum albumin
- total bilirubin
- total globulins
- full blood count
- prothrombin time
- tests for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including hepatic ultrasound and alpha-fetoprotein testing.
Investigations carried out in the secondary care include:
- transient elastography
- liver biopsy (2)
Reference:
- World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) 2015. World Gastroenterology Organisation Practice Guideline. Hepatitis B
- NICE. Hepatitis B (chronic): diagnosis and management. Clinical guideline CG165. Published June 2013, last updated: 20 October 2017
Related pages
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.