[Chronic hepatitis in children].

Results of the diagnosis, evolution and treatment of a study performed during the last 6 years in 50 children, carriers of chronic hepatitis are reported; they were patients of the Pediatric service at the Institute of Gastroenterology, corresponding, 25 to the persistent variety, and the rest to the active. Diagnosis was made by clinical, biochemical, laparoscopic and hepatic histological aspects. The importance of diagnostic laparoscopy and its correlation with hepatic biopsy are indicated. The highest incidence corresponded to patients between 4 and 6 years and 10 and 11 years of age, with a predominance of females. In the persistent variety, normality was achieved with bedrest without the need of medicines. In the active variety, the treatment used was prednisone or its combination with azathioprine, when an adequate response was not obtained or initially in severe cases, obtaining normality in 20% of them with a histological picture of persistent in 16% of the cases and the disease being maintained in 64%, with variations from a degree of inactivity to a now satisfactory picture with a progressive evolution to hepatic cirrhosis. There is no mortality reported in the casuistics.