What are the characteristics of chronic active hepatitis

Chronic active hepatitis, also known as type B chronic active hepatitis, is a relatively common type of hepatitis B. Patients often experience fatigue, aversion to greasy food, frequent abdominal distension, bleeding gums, nosebleeds and other symptoms. This disease is characterized by a long onset time and frequent pain in the liver area. If the treatment is not effective, it will often induce more serious liver disease.

(1) Long course of disease,

It may last for more than a year or even several years or even decades without healing.

(2) Fatigue and pain in the liver area

Symptoms such as loss of appetite persist, and the liver and spleen may become enlarged, the body texture may become hard, the person may become emaciated, and his complexion may be sallow or dull, which are signs of liver disease, as well as physical signs such as palms of the hand and spider nevi.

(3) Acne

Extrahepatic manifestations include rash, arthritis, nephritis, hemolytic anemia, pericarditis, vasculitis, male breast development or pubic hair loss, impotence, menstrual disorders in women, amenorrhea, etc.

(4) There may be repeated abnormalities in alanine aminotransferase

Turbidity and flocculence tests continue to increase, plasma albumin decreases, globulin increases, the protein ratio is abnormal, serum protein electrophoresis γ-globulin increases significantly, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate may also accelerate. In addition, autoimmune reactions such as anti-smooth muscle antibodies, anti-mitochondrial antibodies, rheumatoid factor, lupus cells, and anti-hepatocyte membrane lipoprotein positivity may also occur. Some patients with chronic active hepatitis have atypical clinical symptoms.

(5) Increased liver function damage

For those whose latent disease does not improve for a long time, whose Australia antibodies remain positive, and whose liver function damage is mild but tends to become more serious, a liver biopsy should be performed to clarify the diagnosis and provide timely treatment. Compared with chronic persistent hepatitis, this type of hepatitis has more severe symptoms and a poorer prognosis. Only 15% to 30% of patients are cured after treatment, and quite a few patients are cured after active treatment.

(6) Improper treatment leads to poor prognosis

The condition can be stable for a long time, but in a small number of patients, it is difficult to improve due to various reasons, which makes the condition further deteriorate and finally leads to cirrhosis. Therefore, patients should be under medical supervision for a long time in order to achieve satisfactory therapeutic effects.

There is a history of hepatitis (sometimes unclear), with obvious symptoms of hepatitis such as fatigue, poor appetite, abdominal distension, etc., the liver is often enlarged, and the spleen may also be enlarged. There are often recurrent jaundice, a grayer complexion, and spider nevi or liver palms on the chest. Laboratory examinations showed repeated or persistent elevation of alanine aminotransferase, often accompanied by abnormal protein metabolism, decreased plasma albumin, decreased or inverted albumin/globulin ratio, and some cases had extrahepatic system manifestations such as arthritis and nephritis. The condition may worsen progressively and some cases may develop into cirrhosis.