VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY IN LAENNEC'S CIRRHOSIS. THE RELATIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PLASMA VITAMIN A AND CAROTENOID LEVELS AND THE DARK ADAPTATION TIME 1

Abstract

The dark adaptation time and the conc. of total carotenoids in the blood plasma were detd. in 49 patients with Laennec''s cirrhosis and in 38 patients with various other diseases. The mean level of vit. A in the blood plasma of patients with decompensated cirrhosis was 1/3, and of patients with compensated cirrhosis 1/2 that of normal subjects. The mean dark adaptation time for the former patients was 50% higher, and for the latter 32% higher than that of normal subjects. The incidence and the degree of vit. A deficiency are evidently greater in Laennec''s cirrhosis than in the mixed group of diseases used as controls; among the 3 variables the one most markedly influenced by the presence and severity of Laennec''s cirrhosis is the blood vit. A level, which appears to be a crude index of the severity of the disease.