Hepatitis B Testing & Diagnosis

How is Hepatitis B diagnosed?

A variety of blood tests can be used to diagnose HBV:

• HBV Surface Antigen Test. Positive means you have HBV and can infect others.
• Antibodies to HBV Surface Antigen. Positive means you can't infect others or be infected.
• Antibodies to HBV Core Antigen. Can point to chronic condition but needs to be evaluated with other tests to be certain.

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If you are diagnosed with HBV, other tests may be performed as well:

• E-antigen Test. Positive means that you have high levels of HBV and are very contagious.
• Liver Enzymes. To test the health of your liver.
• Alpha-Fetoprotein Test. Liver cancer may be indicated by heightened levels of this protein.
• Hepatitis B DNA Test. Detects how much of the virus is in your blood.
• Liver Ultrasound or CT Scan. Looks at liver for signs of cancer or scarring.
• Liver Biopsy. Determine the extent of liver damage.

What test do you recommend?

It is a DNA virus with a protein coat, the surface antigen(HBsAg) and a nucleic acid core, the core antigen(HVcAg). The standard hepatitis testing procedure performed to detect an HBV infection is a blood test for the surface antigen.

Mark Riegel, MD

Last updated on Nov 23, 2017

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