| Author/Editor | Bach, Nancy; Thung, Swan N; Schaffner, Fenton | |
| Title | The histological features of chronic hepatitis C and autoimmune chronic hepatitis: a comparative analysis | |
| Type | članek | |
| Source | In: Alps-Adria hepatobiliary school. Book of lectures and abstracts of the 1st postgraduate course on hepatobiliary surgery. Postgraduate course on hepatology; 1993 July 5-9; Ljubljana. Ljubljana: Faculty of medicine, | |
| Publication year | 1993 | |
| Volume | str. 33-8 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Abstract | Before the availability of serological markers for hepatitis C, the morphological features of this diagnosis, which represents most non-A, non-B hepatitis, could not be confirmed. We examined biopsy specimens from 50 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 21 patients with autoimmune chronic hepatitis. Each biopsy specimen was graded on 19 different histological features. The results indicated that at the time of biopsy, the average age of patients with chronic hepatitis C was 46 yr vs. 36 yr for autoimmune chronic hepatitis. Cirrhosis was seen more frequently inautoimmune chronic hepatitis (90%) than in hepatitis C (58%). Features more commonly observed in chronic hepatitis C were bile duct damage (91% vs. 40%), bile duct loss (91% vs. 20%), steatosis (72% vs. 19%) and lymphoid cell aggregation (follicles) within portal tracts (49% vs. 10%). Severe lobular necrosis and inflammation (76% vs. 38%), piecemeal necrosis (81% vs. 10%), multinucleated hepatocytes (29% vs. 6%) and broad areas of parenchymal collapse (76% vs. 6%) were seen more often in autoimmune chronic hepatitis. Exclusionof of five patients with autoimmune chronic hepatitis who received immunosuppression before biosy accentuated these differences. In conclusion, morphological criteria, in addition to serological data, may be useful for differentiating chonic hepatitis C from autoimmune chronic hepatitis, which histologically is a more aggressive disease. | |
| Descriptors | HEPATITIS C HEPATITIS, CHRONIC ACTIVE BIOPSY ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY HEPATITIS C ANTIBODIES AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES |