Is pruritis indicative of "advanced" liver disease? I've read that pruritis is relatively uncommon in HCV patients and that those patients who do have pruritis usually have late-stage liver disease. Any truth to this?
 

This is more or less true but not ironclad. itching usually indicates enough liver disease to cause blockage in elimination of bile acids which make their way into the circulation and may trigger the itch reflex. however, in some cases, the itching may have little to do with this and may reflect other mechanisms that might be seen in any stage of HCV disease, such as autoimmune phenomena.