The natural history of hepatitis C with severe hepatic fibrosis.

Background/aims: To examine the morbidity and mortality of patients with severe fibrosis secondary to HCV infection, within a population unbiased by tertiary referral.

Methods: One hundred and fifty HCV infected patients were identified from the Trent HCV study with a liver biopsy taken before 2002 demonstrating severe fibrosis (Ishak stage > or =4). Follow-up data were extracted from the database and hospital records.

Evolution of untreated hereditary hemochromatosis in the Busselton population: a 17-year study.

Objective: To describe the evolution of biochemical and clinical features during a 17-year period in untreated subjects homozygous for the C282Y mutation in the hemochromatosis gene.

Subjects And Methods: In 1998, 12 subjects from Busselton, Australia, were newly diagnosed as being homozygous for the C282Y mutation. We determined transferrin saturation and ferritin values and retrieved clinical information from the 1981, 1994, and 1998 population surveys for 10 of these subjects.