De Groote J, Fevery J, Lepoutre L
Gut. 1978 Jun;19(6):510-3. doi: 10.1136/gut.19.6.510.
A group of patients with only moderately active chronic hepatitis has been studied. The follow-up was long (mean 87 months). All patients except one were treated with prednisone and/or azathioprine. Of the hepatitis B virus positive patients two-thirds developed cirrhosis between the second and fifth year of evolution, while in the hepatitis B negative group this occurred in less than one-third. The transition to cirrhosis was clinically silent. The patients were all allowed to do their normal work except in the terminal stages of cirrhosis. Five patients died of causes related to the disease: three patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, one with gallbladder carcinoma, and one from bleeding varices. The high incidence of tumour, especially liver-cell carcinoma, may be due to a cumulative effect of the presence of hepatitis B virus, cirrhotic transformation, and immuno-suppression. The other patients are currently in apparently good health.
对一组仅有中度活动性慢性肝炎的患者进行了研究。随访时间较长（平均87个月）。除1例患者外，所有患者均接受了泼尼松和/或硫唑嘌呤治疗。在乙肝病毒阳性患者中，三分之二在病程的第二年至第五年发展为肝硬化，而在乙肝阴性组中，这一比例不到三分之一。向肝硬化的转变在临床上并无症状。除了肝硬化终末期患者外，所有患者都能正常工作。5例患者死于与疾病相关的原因：3例肝硬化合并肝细胞癌患者，1例胆囊癌患者，1例死于曲张静脉出血。肿瘤的高发病率，尤其是肝细胞癌，可能是由于乙肝病毒的存在、肝硬化转变和免疫抑制的累积效应。其他患者目前健康状况明显良好。
