HEPATITIS AND ITS SEQUELAE, INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PORTAL CIRRHOSIS

Abstract

THE PROBLEM of hepatitis has become a very real one since the onset of World War II. Just as in and after World War I, the incidence of hepatitis and perhaps the virulence of the icterogenic substance, which has definitely been shown to be a virus, have become greater. Our observations are presented to bring out the following points: That the virulence of the organism during the two years previous to this report has been great, especially when it has been transmitted by the infusion of plasma or blood. That there is a correlation between the results of liver function tests and the clinical course of the disease. That the physician should be alert concerning the possibility of homologous serum jaundice and of syringe-transmitted hepatitis. That chronic hepatitis and portal cirrhosis do exist as sequelae of acute hepatitis. From July 1946 through December 1948, 100 patients with hepatitis