Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Autoimmune hepatitis in a Jamaican cohort spanning 40 years

Autoimmune hepatitis in a Jamaican cohort spanning 40 years BACKGROUND: The prevalence and characteristics of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in black populations are not well documented. OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical and laboratory features of AIH in patients presenting at a Jamaican hospital, 1969–2009. METHODS: A retrospective review of hospital records was done and patients were classified by the revised international scoring system. RESULTS: Fifty patients satisfied criteria for diagnosis of AIH type-1 and most presented late at hospital. Almost one third of cases presented with chronic liver disease (32%) while 8% presented with fulminant hepatic failure and 2% with acute liver disease. Jaundice (92%) was the most common presenting feature. Other associated autoimmune diseases (10%) systemic lupus erythematosus and insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, were found. All patients (100%) had abnormal liver biochemical tests, 81% had hypergammaglobulinaemia and 82% AIH associated autoantibodies. The prevalence of autoantibodies increased with age (P=0.05). Liver biopsy, performed in 33 cases, showed chronic hepatitis (45%), cirrhosis (24%) chronic hepatitis with bridging necrosis (15%), chronic hepatitis with rosetting (6%) and nonspecific findings (10%). Patients were treated with prednisone with or without azathioprine. Relapse occurred in 4% and death 6%. CONCLUSION: Autoimmune hepatitis is rare in Jamaicans and prognosis is similar to that reported in developed countries. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Human Antibodies IOS Press

Loading next page...
 
/lp/ios-press/autoimmune-hepatitis-in-a-jamaican-cohort-spanning-40-years-pJ1ZSnGe3A

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
IOS Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by IOS Press, Inc
ISSN
1093-2607
eISSN
1875-869X
DOI
10.3233/HAB-140275
pmid
24961867
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The prevalence and characteristics of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in black populations are not well documented. OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical and laboratory features of AIH in patients presenting at a Jamaican hospital, 1969–2009. METHODS: A retrospective review of hospital records was done and patients were classified by the revised international scoring system. RESULTS: Fifty patients satisfied criteria for diagnosis of AIH type-1 and most presented late at hospital. Almost one third of cases presented with chronic liver disease (32%) while 8% presented with fulminant hepatic failure and 2% with acute liver disease. Jaundice (92%) was the most common presenting feature. Other associated autoimmune diseases (10%) systemic lupus erythematosus and insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, were found. All patients (100%) had abnormal liver biochemical tests, 81% had hypergammaglobulinaemia and 82% AIH associated autoantibodies. The prevalence of autoantibodies increased with age (P=0.05). Liver biopsy, performed in 33 cases, showed chronic hepatitis (45%), cirrhosis (24%) chronic hepatitis with bridging necrosis (15%), chronic hepatitis with rosetting (6%) and nonspecific findings (10%). Patients were treated with prednisone with or without azathioprine. Relapse occurred in 4% and death 6%. CONCLUSION: Autoimmune hepatitis is rare in Jamaicans and prognosis is similar to that reported in developed countries.

Journal

Human AntibodiesIOS Press

Published: Jan 1, 2013

There are no references for this article.