ABSTRACT
Objective: present study was designed to find out the frequency of hepatic hydrothorax among the patients with liver cirrhosis in a tertiary care hospital
Methods: this prospective observational study was carried out at the Hepatology Section of Department of Medicine, Isra University Hospital, Hyderabad, from December 2005 to May 2006. All the consecutive patients suffering from cirrhosis of liver were included and studied for the presence of hepatic hydrothorax. Results were summed up and test parameters were compared statistically
Results: the total number of patients was 128, and the mean age of these patients was 48.6 years. Frequency of hepatic hydrothorax in all patients with cirrhosis was 5.5% [7/128]. It was seen that highest frequency of hepatic hydrothorax was found in Hepatitis C cirrhotic patients [4/7]. The second most common occurrence was found in hepatitis B cirrhotic patients [2/7]. In other types [non "B", non "C"] it was 1/7
Conclusion: the frequency of hepatic hydrothorax at our center is similar as reported in the world literature
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Approximately 30 to 40% of patients with Chronic Hepatitis "C" [CHC] have persistently normal serum alanine aminotransferase [ALT] levels. Historically, these patients have been classified as healthy or asymptomatic and have not received any treatment for CHC infection. However, definition and clinical significance of persistently normal ALT in CHC have been recently revised as new information on liver disease which is now getting available
Aims: To evaluate the histological feature of liver of patients suffering from CHC with persistently normal ALT levels
Methods: In this prospective observational study we recruited consecutive patients infected with CHC with persistently normal ALT since last six months, visited our hepatology clinic from September 2004 to April 2005. The METAVIR scoring system was used for liver histology grading [degree of inflammation] and staging [degree of fibrosis]
Results: A total of 55 patients were recruited from outpatient clinic with normal ALT during a follow up of six months. Mean age of these patients was 36.7+/- 9.78 years; out of these 39 [70.9%] were male. All these patients were diagnosed to have hepatitis C by HCV RNA PCR method. There were 24 [43.6%] patients with stage [fibrosis] equal or greater than 2 and 33 [60%] had biopsy grade equal or greater than 2. Eighteen [32.7%] patients had steatosis on liver biopsy. Twelve patients with stage > 2 had steatosis while 6 patients with stage < 2 had steatosis [p< 0.01]
Conclusion: There was no correlation found between the transaminase level and biopsy scores. Approximately 44 % of the patients have fibrosis equal to or greater than stage 2. The extent of steatosis is directly related to the biopsy score of the patients