The clinicopathological features of the alcoholic liver injury in Japan and its etiological relationship to hepatitis B virus.

Clinicopathological features of 73 patients with alcoholic liver injury were investigated and its etiological relationship to HBV was examined. The results obtained are as follows: 1) the symptoms and histologic changes observed in this study were slightly differed from that of acute alcoholic hepatitis reported in the United States and European countries and only few cases showed similar symptoms and histologic changes compatible to acute alcoholic hepatitis. 2) Histologically, the pattern of hepatic fibrosis extending from the protal tracts into the lobule with scanty inflammatory changes was supposed to be the most characteristic features in this study. 3) Evidence of the exposure to HBV has been presented in 19 of 55 examined cases. Three cases with persistent HBs antigenemia were occasionally associated with severe hepatic changes. However, positive tests for antibodies presumably reflect the previous infection of HBV and no continuous damage due to the infection was supposed in these cases.