Liver biopsy findings in patients with alcoholic liver disease complicated by chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the features of concurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in liver biopsies from patients thought to have alcoholic liver disease.


METHODS
Fifty-five patients with a history of excess alcohol consumption were studied.


METHODS
All patients underwent liver biopsy.


RESULTS
Eight of the 55 patients studied were found to be HCV-positive.


CONCLUSIONS
The histological features found to be most useful for identifying concurrent HCV infection were the presence of lymphoid aggregates in portal tracts (predictive value 100%), the presence of lymphocytes in the lobules (predictive value 83%), and the pattern of fibrosis, particularly periportal spurring rather than perivenular fibrosis (predictive value 75%).
Kyriacou
E
E
Department of Medicine, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, UK.
Simmonds
P
P
Miller
E K
EK
Bouchier
I A
IA
Hayes
P C
PC
Harrison
D J
DJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged