Cyclosporin, a new treatment for autoimmune chronic active hepatitis.

A 51-year-old man whose aggressive autoimmune chronic active hepatitis had been treated with prednisone for five years, was treated with cyclosporin for 12 months. The disease had become unresponsive to high doses of prednisone and the side-effects had become disabling. Azathioprine could not be used because of drug hypersensitivity.

Alcohol and the liver. 3. Laboratory aids in the detection of alcohol abuse.

Alcohol abuse is often difficult to diagnose in the early stages in the absence of physical manifestations and where patients are unaware of their alcohol dependence. Many minimise the amount they consume and alcoholism frequently remains undetected even among patients admitted to hospital. This article reviews the metabolic basis of the common biochemical derangements due to alcohol, with particular emphasis on relevant laboratory tests which are available to practising physicians.