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Query: UMLS:C0019158 (hepatitis)
 30,205 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The clinical, biochemical, morphological, and evolutive features of autoimmune hepatitis associated with serum smooth muscle antibodies of anti-actin specificity were retrospectively analyzed in 31 children and adolescents. Cirrhosis was present at diagnosis in all but six patients, including nine of the 12 diagnosed within 6 months from the onset. In 15 children, one or more associated diseases of an immune-mediated mechanism were present, including chronic arthritis, sclerosing cholangitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and cutaneous vasculitis. All patients were treated with prednisone and azathioprine with normalization or improvement of liver function tests: 28 children are currently alive after a mean follow-up of 4 years, 10 months. Treatment was interrupted in four patients only. Two patients died of liver failure in spite of immunosuppressive therapy before the era of liver transplantation. In spite of prolonged therapy, five other patients ultimately required liver transplantation during adolescence or early adulthood. These results (a) further define a group of autoimmune hepatitis in children characterized by the presence of serum anti-actin antibodies; (b) indicate that immunosuppressive therapy improves liver function, although in most cases it must be continued for a long period to maintain remission; and (c) suggest that progressive liver failure may occur in early adulthood and may require liver transplantation.
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PMID:Autoimmune hepatitis associated with anti-actin antibodies in children and adolescents. 814 91

Glucose intolerance is associated with chronic liver disease, particularly cirrhosis, and overt diabetes mellitus is two to four times more common than in the general population. Little attention has been paid to the relationship between the cause of cirrhosis and the development of glucose intolerance or whether cirrhosis is a prerequisite. We found glucose intolerance to be particularly common in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and in this retrospective study we attempt to confirm this possible association. To investigate this question we reviewed the files of 128 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 40 with chronic hepatitis B and active liver disease. Demographic, laboratory, imaging and pathology data were abstracted. The mean fasting blood glucose (+/-SD) in the hepatitis C and B groups was 160 +/- 83 and 103 +/- 18 mg/dl (P < 0.0001) with 2.5% and 39.1% respectively being overtly diabetic (P < 0.00001). However, the mean age of the hepatitis C group was much higher (45.6 +/- 12.5 vs. 60.1 +/- 12.3 years, P < 0.00001). The prevalence of diabetes was much higher among the hepatitis C patients than in the general population. Cirrhosis was not more frequent in biopsies from hepatitis C diabetic patients compared with non-diabetic or hepatitis B patients. Multivariate analysis showed that type of hepatitis and age were significant and independent predictors for developing diabetes. We conclude that there appears to be an association between diabetes mellitus and chronic hepatitis C that is not present in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
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PMID:Diabetes mellitus is associated with chronic hepatitis C but not chronic hepatitis B infection. 875 86

Experience in liver transplantation (OLT) in Italy over a ten-year period is reported. Data were obtained using a multiple-items form collected from Italian liver transplant centres (reference centres) and other Italian institutions actively involved both in the processes of evaluation of the candidates and the follow-up of liver transplant recipients (afference centres). During this period, a total of 1046 liver transplants were performed on 954 patients, with a cumulative proportional survival of 71%. The most common indication for liver transplantation was post-hepatitic cirrhosis due to either hepatitis B virus (+/-hepatitis Delta virus) or hepatitis C virus infection. Good survival rates were observed, particularly in controversial indications, such as alcoholic cirrhosis, post-hepatitic hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, most likely due to proper and careful selection of the patients. Cirrhosis, secondary to an autoimmunity-based liver disease, showed the highest rate of rejection episodes. Infections, in our study population, were the most common cause of death after transplantation.
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PMID:Liver transplantation in Italy: preliminary 10-year report. The Monotematica Aisf-Olt Study Group. 889 51

Small-diameter H-graft portacaval shunts (HGPCSs) effectively treat bleeding varices due to cirrhosis, although the effects of such shunts on hepatic blood flow are not well established. Proponents of HGPCS believe that portal flow diverted through the shunt is regained through increased hepatic arterial inflow while others argue that this flow is never recovered; resulting in compromised nutrient flow. In this study, we sought to determine the effects of HGPCS on effective hepatic and portal blood flow. Patients undergoing HGPCS had portal pressures and flow (via color-flow Doppler ultrasound) measured intraoperatively before and after placement of HGPCS. Effective hepatic blood flow was determined utilizing low-dose galactose clearance 1 day preoperatively and 5 days postoperatively. Over a 7-year period, 64 patients (42 male and 22 female), average age 54 +/- 13.6 years (SD), were studied. Cirrhosis was due to alcohol in 37 patients, hepatitis in 9, alcohol and hepatitis in 5, and assorted other causes in 13. Child's class was A in 11 patients, B in 35, and C in 18. Both portal flow and pressures decreased significantly postoperatively (15 +/- 14.2 to 10 +/- 15.1 mL/min [P < 0.05] and 29 +/- 13.0 to 18 + 6.2 mm/Hg [P < 0.05]), whereas effective hepatic blood flow decreased insignificantly (1441 +/- 1719 to 1332 +/- 863 mL/min). Small-diameter HGPCS significantly reduce portal pressures and portal blood flow while maintaining effective hepatic flow. These findings suggest that hepatic arterialization occurs as early as 5 days after shunting and thus support the application of HGPCS.
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PMID:Small-diameter H-graft portacaval shunt reduces portal flow yet maintains effective hepatic blood flow. 945 41

Cirrhosis of the liver results from a variety of mechanisms that cause progressive hepatic injury. It is the sixth leading cause of death in all patients between the ages of 35 and 55. This study attempts to correlate the morbidity and mortality of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in liver failure patients to numerous etiologic and clinical variables. A retrospective review of 26 patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis associated with chronic liver disease was performed in a university hospital. Demographics (age and gender), clinical variables (etiology of liver failure, Child's classification, prior history of ascites, fever, abdominal pain, encephalopathy, and upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage), and laboratory variables (ascitic polymorphonuclearcyte count and cultures, serum albumin, bilirubin, creatinine, and prothrombin time) were studied. All of the patients had Child's C liver disease. Mortality rate was 46 per cent. Alcohol (46%) and hepatitis (30%) were the most common etiologies. Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most common culture isolates. All of the infections were monomicrobial. The only significant predictor of mortality (P < 0.05) in this study was the peritoneal fluid polymorphonuclear (PMN) cell count. PMN count >1000 PMN/mm3 was associated with a mortality of 88 per cent. Few patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis are ultimately transplanted.
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PMID:Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in liver failure. 984 34

The causes and pathologic changes leading to fibrosis and cirrhosis after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are not fully defined. The computerized pathology files were searched for cases of fibrosis/cirrhosis after OLT. Of 493 grafts from 435 patients, 35 grafts from 32 patients of posttransplantation liver fibrosis/cirrhosis were identified and retrieved (7%). Detailed histopathologic examinations of all post-OLT liver biopsy specimens were performed in conjunction with clinical, virologic, serologic, and molecular diagnostics information. Two cases with subcapsular septa and fibrous tissue close to hilum were excluded as false positives. Fibrosis/cirrhosis was confirmed in the remaining 33 grafts. In 20, the underlying cause was recurrent viral hepatitis, including eight with hepatitis C, 10 with hepatitis B, and two with combined hepatitis C and B. Another two with pretransplantation chronic hepatitis B developed cirrhosis without detectable virologic markers after OLT; these were biliary type secondary to obstruction in one, and chronic changes due to severe graft ischemia in one. Three patients acquired hepatitis C after OLT, with molecular confirmation available in two. In five patients, the underlying causes were Budd-Chiari syndrome and autoimmune hepatitis, recurrent autoimmune hepatitis, recurrent primary biliary cirrhosis, alcohol-induced liver disease, and recurrent bile duct carcinoma. Three cases had centrilobular fibrosis but without bridging septa or cirrhosis as a result of chronic rejection. It was concluded that (1) Cirrhosis after OLT is uncommon (7%). (2) Chronic rejection does not lead to cirrhosis, but it may result in centrilobular fibrosis. (3) In most (70%) cases, cirrhosis after OLT is attributed to recurrent or acquired viral hepatitis.
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PMID:Fibrosis/cirrhosis after orthotopic liver transplantation. 992 25

Cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) is now the most common indication of liver transplantation in Western Europe and the United States. In the absence of effective prophylaxis, recurrent HCV infection is almost inevitable. Though the natural history and intermediate term outcome of recurrent HCV are now better documented, those factors which may influence the recurrence of hepatitis and consequent progression of graft disease remain unclear. Interferon (IFN) as a sole agent for the treatment of recurrent infection has proved unsatisfactory. Early intervention with a combination of IFN and ribavirin seems promising, and this approach may prevent or delay progression of HCV related graft disease after liver transplantation.
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PMID:Hepatitis C virus recurrence after liver transplantation. 1007 68

Patients who survive hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) have multiple risk factors for chronic liver disease, including hepatitis virus infection, iron overload, and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). We studied 3,721 patients who had survived 1 or more years after HCT at a single center and identified patients with histologic or clinical evidence of cirrhosis. Risk factors for the development of cirrhosis were evaluated and compared with a group of matched control subjects. Cirrhosis was identified in 31 of 3,721 patients surviving 1 or more years after HCT, 23 of 1,850 patients surviving 5 or more years, and in 19 of 860 patients surviving 10 or more years. Cumulative incidence after 10 years was estimated to be 0.6% and after 20 years was 3.8%. The median time from HCT to the diagnosis of cirrhosis was 10.1 years (range, 1.2 to 24.9 years). Twenty-three patients presented with complications of portal hypertension, and 1 presented with hepatocellular carcinoma. Thirteen patients have died from complications of liver disease, and 2 died of other causes. Three patients have undergone orthotopic liver transplantation. Hepatitis C virus infection was present in 25 of 31 (81%) of patients with cirrhosis and in 14 of 31 (45%) of controls (P =.01). Cirrhosis was attibutable to hepatitis C infection in 15 of 16 patients presenting more than 10 years after HCT. There was no difference in the prevalence of acute or chronic GVHD, duration of posttransplant immunosuppression, or posttransplant marrow iron stores between cases and controls. Cirrhosis is an important late complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation and in most cases is due to chronic hepatitis C. Long-term survivors should be evaluated for the presence of abnormal liver function and hepatitis virus infection.
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PMID:Cirrhosis of the liver in long-term marrow transplant survivors. 1023 77

Forty-four cases of nitrofurantoin-associated hepatic injury were reported to the Danish Center for Monitoring of Adverse Drug reactions from 1968 to 1998. Forty-one were women with a median age of 69 years. They had been treated with nitrofurantoin for median one year (two days-seven years), and all had biochemical and clinical signs of hepatitis. In five cases the injury had been provoked by a rechallenge. Twenty-seven liver biopsies showed an equal amount of acute and chronic histopathological changes. Cirrhosis was diagnosed in seven cases. Four died in liver failure; the others apparently recovered without long-term symptoms. In rare cases, nitrofurantoin can cause toxic hepatitis. Apparently elderly women in long-term treatment are more sensitive to develop this adverse reaction. The drug should be withdrawn if the patient shows any signs of hepatitis during treatment and the patient should be informed about the possible relationship to nitrofurantoin exposure. Rechallenge should not be performed.
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PMID:[Hepatic toxicity of nitrofurantoin. Cases reported to the Center for Monitoring Adverse Drug Reactions 1968-1998]. 1064 55

Our objective was to evaluate the histopathological features of chronic hepatitis C of 64 liver biopsies and to correlate this with the route of transmission of hepatitis C virus, the genotype of HCV, and the patient's age. Moderate chronic hepatitis was the most frequently observed (62.5%). Cirrhosis was observed in 14 patients (21.9%) and was more frequently found among patients over 40 years of age (34.3% vs. 6.9%, P = 0.025). The mean histopathological activity index (HAI) was significantly higher in the sporadic (10+/-3.1) than the posttransfusional (7.5+/-3.7) and the intravenous drug use (IVDU) groups (6.3+/-2.8) (P<0.02). Moreover the sporadic group showed more fibrosis (P<0.04) than the posttransfusional group. No liver cirrhosis was found in the IVDU group. The overall prevalence of HCV variants was: 54.7% type 1b, 4.6% type 1a, 37.5% type 2c, 1.6% type 2b, 1.6% type 2. The genotype distribution showed no relation to the HAI, hepatitis activity (grade), and fibrosis (stage) of the liver disease. In conclusion, the sporadic route of transmission of HCV was related to a more severe chronic hepatic disease, a finding that could influence future antiviral therapies. The predominance of HCV type 1b in this study reflects the higher frequency of this variant in our area. Our data suggests that the ultimate consequence of HCV chronic infection depends on patient age rather than on HCV genotype.
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PMID:Correlation of genotypes and route of transmission with histologic activity and disease stage in chronic hepatitis C. 1069 33


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