Author/Editor		Kovačič, Erika
Title		Pomen maščobne metamorfoze pri alkoholni okvari jeter. (Klinično - patohistološka raziskava)
Type		monografija
Place		Ljubljana
Publisher		Medicinska fakulteta
Publication year		1996
Volume		str. 40
Language		slo
Abstract		Steatosis of the liver is the earliest and the most common pathomorphological form of alcoholic liver disease. The condition is completely reversible with abstinence. It may occur as an independent form of liver disease, but is more frequently accompanied by inframmation, fibrosis and some typical though nonspecific histological changes, such as lipogranulomas or siderosis. Early fibrotic changes around the central hepatic vein may develop without previous alcoholic hepatitis. In the study, which followed a retrospective design, the demographic, clinical, laboratory and histological features of steatosis were examined in a group of 287 alcoholics. Liver tissue specimens demonstrating steatosis as the dominant histological lesion, collected at the Hepatopathology Division of the Institute of Pathology in Ljubljana in the years 1981-1995 were evaluated. The patients were divided in groups according to the presence of associated changes (inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis). The results obtained in individual groups were analysed with the Kruskal-Wallis and the chi-square tests. The mean age of the patients was 46 (+-12.5) years, the male - female ratio was 3.9:1. Hepatomegaly was present in 49% of the patients, occurring in all the groups without significant differences. Seventeen per cent of the patients had normal laboratory findings. AST and gamma-GT values were found to differ significantly among the groups (p<0.05). The AST / ALT ratio showed no significant differences. On average 67% of hepatocytes were involved with steatosis. A significant difference in the extent of involvement among the groups was observed only for macrovesicular steatosis (p<0.05). In 93% of tissue specimens, steatosis was located diffusely in the liver parenchyma. A periportal distribution of the changes was not observed. Macrovesicular steatosis was significantly more frequent than other forms (p<0.05). (Abstracta truncated at 2000 characters)
Descriptors		FATTY LIVER, ALCOHOLIC LIVER CIRRHOSIS, ALCOHOLIC PROSPECTIVE STUDIES AGE FACTORS SEX FACTORS LIVER FUNCTION TESTS HEPATITIS, ALCOHOLIC