In order to improve our knowledge of the incidence of liver cirrhosis in Italy, we conducted two epidemiological studies. The first study showed that about 15% of asymptomatic subjects with persistent increase in alanine aminotransferase had histological evidence of cirrhosis. In this setting, cirrhosis was associated with viral aetiology in 91.4% of cases. In the second study, which enrolled cirrhosis patients from 13 centres from all regions of the country, viral infections were detected in 82.6% of patients, the large majority of whom, 71.2%, were positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV). Alcohol abuse was present in 8.7% of cases as exclusive aetiological factor, All the patients were classified according to Child-Pugh and were scored as class A in 62.4%, as class B in 23.8% and as class C in 13.8% of cases. The age distribution showed that about 55% of cirrhosis patients were under 60 years of age 34.3% of them had a Child-Pugh score of class B or C. These data show that HCV infection represents the predominant aetiological factor of cirrhosis in Italy and that cirrhosis can be found frequently in asymptomatic subjects.
Liver cirrhosis: Epidemiological aspects in Italy / C., De Bac; C., Clementi; F., Duca; D., Livoli; G., Poliandri; A., Bozza; A., Osso; S., Martuscelli; C., Pasquazzi; P., Petrucci; Furlan, Caterina; Taliani, Gloria. - In: RESEARCH IN VIROLOGY. - ISSN 0923-2516. - 148:2(1997), pp. 139-142. (Intervento presentato al convegno IVth International Meeting on the Prevention of Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma tenutosi a CAPRI, ITALY nel JUN 20-22, 1996) [10.1016/s0923-2516(97)89899-8].
Liver cirrhosis: Epidemiological aspects in Italy
C. Pasquazzi;FURLAN, Caterina;TALIANI, Gloria
1997
Abstract
In order to improve our knowledge of the incidence of liver cirrhosis in Italy, we conducted two epidemiological studies. The first study showed that about 15% of asymptomatic subjects with persistent increase in alanine aminotransferase had histological evidence of cirrhosis. In this setting, cirrhosis was associated with viral aetiology in 91.4% of cases. In the second study, which enrolled cirrhosis patients from 13 centres from all regions of the country, viral infections were detected in 82.6% of patients, the large majority of whom, 71.2%, were positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV). Alcohol abuse was present in 8.7% of cases as exclusive aetiological factor, All the patients were classified according to Child-Pugh and were scored as class A in 62.4%, as class B in 23.8% and as class C in 13.8% of cases. The age distribution showed that about 55% of cirrhosis patients were under 60 years of age 34.3% of them had a Child-Pugh score of class B or C. These data show that HCV infection represents the predominant aetiological factor of cirrhosis in Italy and that cirrhosis can be found frequently in asymptomatic subjects.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
