title: Autoimmune hepatitis--a diagnostic challenge.
abstract: Autoimmune hepatitis is a type of chronic hepatitis characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia, hypertransaminasemia, presence of autoantibodies, and active necroinflammatory process in the liver revealed by histology. Its onset is usually acute and has a bad prognosis. Tissue antibodies are found in large proportions of patients. Women outnumber men in a 2-3:1 ratio, and it is mostly young women who are affected. Ten percent of all affected have severe disease characterized by elevations of serum aminotransferase levels greater than five-fold, along with a two-fold elevation of gamma globulin or a 10-fold elevation of serum aminotransferase levels alone. We present an unusual case of this disorder in a 60-year-old male patient manifesting its severe form.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City 37614-0622, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged