Linked Life Data

9690395

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/9690395

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
7
pubmed:dateCreated
1998-8-19
pubmed:abstractText
The present study prospectively evaluated the value of liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis B (N=75) and C (N=135) prior to interferon therapy. Biopsy specimens revealed cirrhosis in 26% of patients with hepatitis B and 30% with hepatitis C. Although cirrhosis was not predictable by laboratory values in individual patients mean gamma-GT, alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin levels were significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis compared to those without. Since cirrhosis significantly impairs the response rate to interferon therapy in hepatitis C but not in hepatitis B, liver biopsy is important for the management of chronic hepatitis C infection. In 88% of patients with serum HBV-DNA, irrespective of the serum HBeAg status, chronic active hepatitis was seen. Similarly, chronic active hepatitis was found in 84% of patients with elevated aminotransferases and hepatitis C antibodies. Thus, chronic active hepatitis was diagnosed in the majority of cases with chronic viral hepatitis, showing that this histopathological diagnosis is of little additional value for the recommendation on interferon treatment in these patients. However, none of the other grading systems of liver biopsy specimens described so far have been evaluated for their ability to predict overall prognosis or response rates to interferon therapy. Therefore, the physician is presently left with the questionable value of a procedure with well-known risks and costs in patients suitable for interferon treatment. Hence, prospective randomized controlled studies to evaluate histopathological grading systems are urgently needed to redefine the necessity of liver biopsy in this routine clinical setting.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
AIM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
0163-2116
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
43
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1562-5
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1998
pubmed:articleTitle
Value of liver biopsy prior to interferon therapy for chronic viral hepatitis.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Gastroenterology and Infectious Diseases, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't