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Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study

Dissertation (MD)--University of Pretoria, 2011.

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Other Authors: Fevery, Johan
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Fevery, Johan
author_browse Fevery, Johan
author_facet Fevery, Johan
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2007 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria
description Dissertation (MD)--University of Pretoria, 2011.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:33.363Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30525 Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study Fevery, Johan Van Gelder, Antoine elwinbuchel@yahoo.com Buchel, Elwin Herbert Aih Autoimmune hepatitis UCTD Dissertation (MD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. This study involved the analysis of 112 patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), during which process several specific issues or problems were identified. One subgroup included pregnant patients, and another patients diagnosed at an older age (>65 years). The diagnosis of AIH is not always easy, and the investigations revealed that some patients diagnosed with AIH had features of an overlap syndrome (with primary sclerosing cholangitis) or in fact never had AIH, but as retrospectively diagnosed, had toxic hepatitis masquerading as AIH. Some patients who were initially documented as clearly having chronic hepatitis C, also had autoantibodies in their serum and were (or could have been) incorrectly diagnosed as AIH. The results showed a large variability in symptoms and complaints at the time of diagnosis of AIH. The disorder can present as an acute or chronic disease. In some patients only vague symptoms are reported and in others, the diagnosis is an incidental discovery because of abnormal liver enzymes. In contrast, other patients present with acute liver failure. The diagnosis must be considered in patients with non-viral liver disease with significantly raised ANA and SMA and high serum gammaglobulin concentrations. No fixed age predisposition was found, but rather an even spread over various age groups. The male:female ratio is 1:2.5. This disorder can for the most part be well treated with a combination therapy of corticosteroids and azathioprine. Experience shows that high doses of corticosteroids can cause serious complications, particularly in older patients. A lower dose is mostly adequate, although biochemical normalisation may take longer. In approximately half of the patients, corticosteroid-therapy was discontinued, with azathioprine as the only treatment. The long-term survival of adequately treated patients is almost equal to that of the control group. In the cohort, ten patients died: three who had presented with acute liver failure, two who later developed a hepatocellular carcinoma and one who died because of cerebral lymphoma. Three older patients died of sepsis, possibly co-induced by high doses of steroids. Five patients underwent liver transplantation, of which one died of aspergillosis. Internal Medicine unrestricted 2013-09-07T19:17:27Z 2011-01-10 2013-09-07T19:17:27Z 2007-08-03 2011-01-10 2011-01-10 Dissertation Buchel, EH 2007, Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study, MD dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30525 > D549/ag http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30525 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-01102011-172208/ © 2007 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Aih
Autoimmune hepatitis
UCTD
Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study
title Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study
title_full Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study
title_fullStr Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study
title_full_unstemmed Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study
title_short Autoimmune hepatitis : a clinical study
title_sort autoimmune hepatitis a clinical study
topic Aih
Autoimmune hepatitis
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30525
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-01102011-172208/