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Chronic liver diseases can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Given their long silent progression, their diagnosis is still too late. New highly effective treatments are now available and others will become available very soon. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of chronic liver diseases by primary care physicians, as well as their current practice regarding the screening and management of these pathologies. The results of our study reveal an under-perception of chronic liver diseases by general practitioners. Indeed, they underestimate the prevalence and impact of these diseases and do not screen them optimally because they do not systematically target all populations at risk. Primary care physicians have expressed a willingness to be trained and to modify their practice, particularly through the use of simple blood tests for advanced fibrosis. This would allow earlier diagnosis of liver fibrosis and offer curative treatment of chronic liver disease before the advanced stages.
About the author
Doctor en Medicina y Especialista en Medicina Interna.
