Acute non-A, non-B hepatitis--clinical, epidemiological and histological characteristics.
Among 73 consecutive patients with biopsy documented acute non-toxic hepatitis, half of the patients (49%) had acute type B hepatitis, while 27 patients (37%) had acute type A infection. One patient had a significant rise in antibodies against cytomegalovirus. The remaining 10 patients (14%) fulfilled the criteria of hepatitis type non-A, non-B. The main type of exposure for hepatitis A was visit to endemic hepatitis areas (41%), and for type B it was drug addiction (46%). Half of the patients with hepatitis non-A, non-B had no known hepatitis exposure while some had visited endemic hepatitis areas or were drug addicts. The patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis had significantly less biochemical changes as compared to the patients with hepatitis B. In contrast, the histological findings showed the greatest activity in the biopsies from patients with hepatitis B and non-A, non-B. Follow-up liver biopsies in half of the patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis showed no signs of chronic active liver disease. It is concluded that hepatitis type non-A, non-B is a significant problem in Denmark.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged