Socioeconomic disparities in access to a hepatocellular carcinoma screening program in Brazil.

Objectives: Cirrhotic patients must receive an abdominal ultrasound every 6 months as part of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening. The aim of this study was to assess if HCC screening was performed as recommended by the literature and to observe the differences between the private and public services in Brazil.

Methods: We analyzed data from the HCC screenings of 253 cirrhotic patients from the University Hospital (n=177) and private sector (n=76) in Vitória, ES, Brazil.