Changes in acute liver dysfunction treated in our department *
A comparative study was performed on patients who were admitted to our department to undergo treatment for acute liver dysfunction（viral hepatitis, hepatitis induced by drugs for non-viral hepatitis, alcohol-related hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, fatty liver, hepatitis of unknown etiology, etc.）during the period from 1990 to 2005. The patients were divided into two groups for the comparative study:178 patients in the first period from 1990 to 1997, and 168 patients in the latter period from 1998 to 2005. The two groups were compared with regard to ①changes in the number of cases and sex ratio, ②age, ③cause of liver dysfunction, and ④severity（mild:PT≧70％, moderate:PT≧41％but＜70％, severe:PT≦40％ with no hepatic encephalopathy）.①The number of male and female patients was 102/76 during the first period, and 101/67 during the latter period. ②The average age of the two groups was 43.7 and 48.7 years, respectively, indicating that the disease occurred in patients of higher ages than before. ③Regarding the cause of liver dysfunction, the ratio of patients with viral hepatitis decreased from 37.6％ to 21.4％. This was considered to be due to the introduction of interferon and Lamivudine for the treatment of hepatitis B, and the decrease in posttransfusion hepatitis C following the introduction of nucleic-acid amplification testing（NAT）. An increase was confirmed in the development of alcohol-related hepatitis（from 7.8％ to 19.1％）and drug-induced hepatitis（from 13.4％ to 18.6％). ④Regarding severity, the number of cases with mild hepatitis increased, while the number of cases with fulminant hepatitis decreased. Death was confirmed in cases of hepatitis B and hepatitis of unknown etiology, and cooperation with the appropriate facilities for liver transplantation was considered necessary. Even at present, there are many cases of unknown etiology, and thus further research should be performed to clarify the causes of the disease. (Accepted on January 29，2007)
