Natural history and etiology of liver disease in patients with previous community-acquired acute non-A, non-B hepatitis. A follow-up study of 178 Danish patients consecutively enrolled in The Copenhagen Hepatitis Acuta Programme in the period 1969-1987.

Background/aims: Consecutive patients originally diagnosed with acute non-A, non-B hepatitis were followed up to assess the long-term morbidity and mortality and to re-evaluate the etiology in surviving patients.

Methods: Follow-up was performed in 178 patients with acute non-A, non-B hepatitis enrolled in the Copenhagen Hepatitis Acuta Programme in the period 1969-1987. Mortality and morbidity were assessed using: i) death certificates and ii) diagnoses at discharge following all somatic admissions.

Biochemical, virological and histopathological changes in Danish blood donors with antibodies to hepatitis C virus.

Background: Previous studies have indicated that the presence of antibodies to Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is indicative of current HCV infection irrespective of S-alanine aminotransferase (S-ALT) values.

Study Design And Methods: Over three years, all confirmed anti-HCV-positive blood donors form the Blood Banks of Copenhagen County were consecutively evaluated. Seven women and 14 men with a median age of 34 years were included.

[Temporal arteritis without histological changes].

A patient with severe giant cell arteritis with involvement of both eyes is presented. The symptoms were partly reversible by treatment with high doses of prednison. Three months previously (having symptoms of polymyalgia rheumatica) she had started treatment with a low dosage of prednison.

Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in out-patient alcoholics.

Sera from 192 out-patient alcoholics attending a clinic for the treatment of alcoholism were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and for antibodies to HBsAg and to hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg). Three sera (1.5%) were positive for HBsAg.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal function in relation to liver function in men with alcoholic cirrhosis.

Serum concentrations of oestrone, oestradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were significantly (P less than 0.01) raised in men with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (no. = 42) compared with age-matched controls (no.

The accuracy of the clinical diagnosis in acute hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease. Clinical versus morphological diagnosis.

Microfilms were prepared from the case histories of 357 consecutive patients submitted to liver biopsy for the first time so that all information after the time of the liver biopsy was erased. The microfilms were assessed by four clinicians, and the pre-biopsy diagnostic proposals were graded according to the degree of certainty and were compared with the results of the liver biopsies. Out of 357 patients, 200 had a history of alcoholism, of whom 172 had alcohol-induced changes in the liver biopsies: 80 cases of alcoholic cirrhosis, 84 cases of steatosis, and 8 cases of alcoholic hepatitis without cirrhosis.

Oral testosterone load related to liver function in men with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

The relation between liver function and an oral testosterone load was examined in 42 consecutive patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Administration of an oral load of 400 mg micronized free testosterone increased the serum concentration of testosterone (range, 31.9-694.

Peritoneovenous shunt in treatment of ascites in patients with cirrhosis. A preliminary report with special reference to pathophysiology.

Peritoneovenous shunts (LeVeen type) were implanted in seven patients with cirrhosis complicated by ascites refractory to diuretic treatment. Three patients died of gastrointestinal bleeding and hepatic coma 1 to 7 weeks after the shunt implantation. The patients who died were those with the most severely impaired liver and kidney function.

Azathioprine versus prednisone in non-alcoholic chronic liver disease (CLD). Relation to a serological classification.

One hundred and forty-eight patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis or chronic aggressive hepatitis entered a prospective, unblinded, randomized trial on the effect of azathioprine versus prednisone. For all 148 patients, there were no differences in survival related to the two drugs. In 99 patients the disease was classified as autoimmune, in 23 as posthepatitic, and in 26 as cryptogenic.

Chronic persistent hepatitis: serological classification and meaning of the hepatitis B e system.

In order to evaluate the prognostic implications of the hepatitis B e system in patients with chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH), 53 consecutive patients were studied. Fourteen of 16 patients with HBsAg and HBeAg were followed from 12 to 120 months (mean, 38 months). Eleven of the 14 patients were persistently HBeAg positive and five of these developed chronic active hepatitis (CAH) or cirrhosis.

Pituitary-testicular function in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver.

In forty-two patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis and without recent alcohol ingestion the pituitary-testicular function was studied in an effort to relate the endocrine abnormalities with the degree of liver cell dysfunction, evaluated on a quantitative basis. Compared with values in twenty-one healthy controls, we found significantly elevated serum oestrone, oestradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and prolactin (P less than 0.01).

Gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase as markers of alcohol consumption in out-patient alcoholics.

Serum activity of gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase were determined in 316 patients attending an out-patients clinic for treatment of alcoholism. The activity of gamma-glutamyltransferase was raised in 34% and that of aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase in 18% and 7%. Neither the activity of gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase nor alkaline phosphatase showed any significant (P greater than 0.

Autoantibodies, histocompatibility antigens and testosterone in males with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

Titres and immunoglobulin classes of autoantibodies were examined in 69 male patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis and the findings were related to particular human leucocyte antigens and serum concentration of testosterone. Both anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) and smooth muscle antibodies (SMA) were significantly more prevalent in patients with cirrhosis than in sex- and age-matched controls. Antimitochondrial antibodies and liver cell membrane antibody were found in 4% of the patients, and in none of the controls, but this difference was not significant.

Short-term parenteral and peroral testosterone administration in men with alcoholic cirrhosis.

Serum concentrations of testosterone were measured in 24 male patients with alcoholic cirrhosis during testosterone administration. The purpose was to compare serum concentrations of testosterone during peroral with those during parenteral testosterone administration in these patients. Patients who were injected intramuscularly with a combination of short- and long-acting testosterone (Triolandren, 348 mg testosterone) had median peak values of serum testosterone of about 40 ng/ml, which fell to basal levels after a fortnight.

Human leucocyte antigens in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

No significant differences in the frequencies of HLA-B8, -B40, and other HLA-A, -B, and -C phenotypes were found among patients with histologically verified alcoholic cirrhosis compared with normal controls when the p values were multiplied by the number of comparisons. This was found both in the present study of 45 patients and in the combined data of this and three other similar studies. However, these findings do not rule out that alcoholic cirrhosis might be associated with HLA factors (for example.

The role of acute hepatitis type A, B, and non-A non-B in the development of chronic active liver disease.

In 19 patients followed from biopsy-verified acute viral hepatitis to chronic active liver disease and 74 patients followed to complete resolution verified by a normal liver biopsy, sera from the acute phase were studied for serologic evidence of hepatitis type A and B. Eleven of the 19 patients who developed chronic active liver disease progressed from acute hepatitis type B and 7 from acute hepatitis type non-A non-B. One patient could not be classified because the sera were exhausted.

Zinc depletion in alcoholic liver diseases.

Liver and serum zinc concentrations were investigated in 24 patients with alcoholic liver diseases, 22 patients with non-alcoholic liver diseases, and in 36 control subjects. The liver samples were obtained by percutaneous liver biopsies, and the ratio of hepatocytes to fibrous connective tissue was estimated. The liver zinc concentration was expressed in relation to the amount of hepatocytes, and the serum zinc concentration was calculated in relation to total, albumin-, and alpha 2-macroglobulin-bound serum zinc.

Hepatitis B virus infections among Danish surgeons.

Acute viral hepatitis B is considered to be an occupational risk to health-care workers worldwide. At the 1977 annual meeting of the Danish Society of Surgeons, 224 participants were examined for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HGsAg) and antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs) with use of a radioimmunoassay. None of the surgeons was HBsAg-positive, but 23% had anti-HBs.

Immunofluorescence studies for hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B surface and core antigen in liver biopsies from patients with acute viral hepatitis.

Immunofluorescence studies for hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B surface and core antigen were performed on liver biopsies from 48 patients with acute viral hepatitis. Hepatitis A virus was detected in 11 out of 17 patients with type A hepatitis and was not found in patients with type B or non-A non-B hepatitis. Hepatitis B surface and core antigens were detected in 2, hepatitis B core antigen alone in 1, and hepatitis B surface antigen alone in 4 out of 24 patients with type B hepatitis.

Long-term follow-up of e-antigen (HBeAg)-positive acute viral hepatitis.

Eighteen consecutive patients with HBeAg in serum and histologically verified acute viral hepatitis were included in a follow-up study of the natural course of the disease. Five patients were followed up for from 2 to 6 months. Two of these healed clinically and cleared both HBeAg and HBsAg, while three were positive for HBeAg and HBsAg at the last control.