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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
1999-7-15
pubmed:abstractText
We examined the clinical characteristics of 89 patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, and assessed the usefulness of a provisional scoring system for the diagnosis of AIH proposed by the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group in 1993. The majority of patients were middle-aged women in their fifties. All patients showed a hepatitic picture. Forty-three patients (48%) had an insidious or chronic onset, while 34 (38%) had an acute onset, and 12 (14%) had liver cirrhosis at presentation. Seventy-nine patients (89%) were positive for antinuclear antibody (ANA), and 5 (6%) were positive for antibody to the hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV). The prognosis was good, with 90% 3-year survival, and most patients responded well to treatment with corticosteroids. The international scoring system was useful for the diagnosis of AIH in most of our patients; the percentages of patients with definite and probable AIH were 48% and 47%, respectively. However, certain factors, such as negative ANA, positive antimitochondrial antibody, concurrent infection with hepatitis B or C virus, and insufficient response to treatment precluded the diagnosis of AIH in some patients. Whether these patients were indeed "true" AIH patients is not clear at present, and further investigation of such patients may be useful for a better understanding of AIH.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0944-1174
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
34
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
221-6
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1999
pubmed:articleTitle
Clinical features of 89 patients with autoimmune hepatitis in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.
pubmed:affiliation
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article