ArticleLiver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver2026
Five Years of HCV Dried Blood Spot Testing in At-Risk Populations and the Impact of Reduced Sensitivity on Missed Diagnoses.
Article in Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Five Years of HCV Dried Blood Spot Testing in At-Risk Populations and the Impact of Reduced Sensitivity on Missed Diagnoses.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND &
aimsAchieving HCV elimination requires diagnostic strategies capable of reaching underserved populations who remain poorly accessed by conventional healthcare pathways. Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling enables decentralised testing, but concerns remain regarding its analytical sensitivity and the potential risk of missed diagnoses.
methodsWe conducted a 5 year real-world implementation study of DBS-based HCV screening in France (2020-2024). DBS samples were collected in harm reduction centers and other community-based facilities and sent to Montpellier University Hospital for centralised analysis. We evaluated the diagnostic yield of DBS in routine practice and estimated the potential number of missed cases by comparing the DBS detection threshold with the distribution of plasma HCV RNA levels observed at diagnosis in untreated individuals.
resultsThe limit of detection (LOD) for HCV RNA on DBS was 1252 IU/mL, with a systematic underestimation compared with plasma measurements (mean bias -2.29 log
conclusionDespite a modest reduction in analytical sensitivity compared with plasma-based testing, the substantial public health benefits associated with increased testing coverage strongly outweigh this limitation and support the integration of DBS into HCV elimination strategies.
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