Symptomless Liver Disorder Can Go Untreated

Study suggests waiting until autoimmune hepatitis develops further

THURSDAY, June 30, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- A disease called autoimmune hepatitis occurs when an individual's own immune system attacks the liver. In many cases, the disease progresses without symptoms. Now, a new Canadian study suggests immunosuppressive therapy may not be necessary for these asymptomatic patients.

In their study, published in the July issue of the journal Hepatology, researchers at the University of Toronto reviewed the clinical records of 124 patients with autoimmune hepatitis -- 31 of whom had no symptoms -- treated at the Toronto Western Hospital Liver Clinic.

Immunosuppressive therapy was recommended for all the patients with symptoms, while those without symptoms went untreated unless they had already started treatment.

Patients who were symptom-free at the start of the study but developed symptoms during the study period were placed on immunosuppressive therapy. That therapy was stopped if the patients remained in remission for two years with no relapse. Therapy was restarted if symptoms reappeared.

"Our data suggest that it may be safe to follow asymptomatic patients with a strategy to institute immunosuppressive treatment if symptoms develop over time," the study authors wrote.

However, they noted that asymptomatic patients were less likely to respond to treatment than patients who had symptoms.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about autoimmune hepatitis.

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