Background: In 2010 an estimated 224 000 people in Australia lived with chronic hepatitis C virus(HCV), with another 9 700 anticipated annual infections.Pattern differentiation(PD), an integral aspect of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), differentiates biomedical diseases into patterns.PD is used to diagnose, direct the treatment principle and determine treatment protocol.The aim of this study was to determine whether acupuncture could improve health outcomes of people with HCV.Methods: Hepatitis TCM patterns and associated symptoms/signs were identified from TCM literature.Sixteen HCV participants were enrolled in a randomized, controlled pilot study and allocated to an acupuncture treatment or sham acupuncture control group.Each participant was assessed against these patterns(symptoms/signs) at baseline and on completion(week 12) using an innovative methodology which allowed evaluation.Results: Seventeen patterns were identified with participants expressing both different and multiple patterns.Three major patterns expressed aggregate mean percentages: liver yin vacuity 47.2%, binding depression of liver qi 46.9% and liver kidney yin vacuity 45.1%.Further sub-category sex grouping revealed ranking changes: liver yin vacuity(male=43.4%; female=51.92%), binding depression of liver qi(male=51.6%; female=42.86%) and liver kidney yin vacuity(male=46.4%; female=48.96%).There was a significant mean percentage decrease in pattern expression at week 12 compared to baseline for the secondary and tertiary patterns for the acupuncture treatment group(56.3% versus 47.5%, P=0.045, and 48.1% versus 33.6%, P=0.037, respectively).No significant change was found for the major patterns of the control group or for the treatment group’s primary pattern.Conclusion: The quantification of patterns of a HCV sample group allowed the identification of HCV patterns within this study group and the evaluation of treatment outcomes. Background: In 2010 an estimated 224 000 people in Australia lived with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), with another 9 700 annual annual infections. Pattern differentiation (PD), an integral aspect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), differentiates biomedical diseases into patterns.PD is used to diagnose, direct the treatment of and determine treatment protocol. The Aims of this study was to determine whether acupuncture could improve health outcomes of people with HCV. Methods: Hepatitis TCM patterns and associated symptoms / signs were identified from TCM literature. Sixteen HCV participants were enrolled in a randomized, controlled pilot study and allocated to an acupuncture treatment or sham acupuncture control group. Each participant was assessed against these patterns (symptoms / signs) at baseline and on completion (week 12) using an innovative methodology which allowed evaluation. Results: Seventeen patterns were identified with participants expressing both different and multip le patterns.Three major patterns expressed aggregate mean percentages: liver yin vacuity 47.2%, binding depression of liver qi 46.9% and liver kidney yin vacuity 45.1% .Further sub-category sex grouping top ranked ranking changes: liver yin vacuity (male = 43.4% ; female = 51.92%), binding depression of liver qi (male = 51.6%; female = 42.86%) and liver kidney yin vacuity (male = 46.4%; female = 48.96%). at week 12 compared to baseline for the secondary and tertiary patterns for the acupuncture treatment group (56.3% versus 47.5%, P = 0.045 and 48.1% versus 33.6%, P = 0.037, respectively) .No significant change was found for the major patterns of the control group or for the treatment group’s primary pattern. Confluence: The quantification of patterns of a HCV sample group allowed the identification of HCV patterns within this study group and the evaluation of treatment outcomes.