Liver Path 2 Flashcards
Clinicopathologic Syndromes of Viral Hepatitis
Acute asymptomatic infection with recovery (serologic evidence only)
Acute symptomatic hepatitis with recovery
Chronic hepatitis, with or without progression to cirrhosis
Acute liver failure with massive to submassive hepatic necrosis
Tests for Hepatitis Viruses
Antibody to viral proteins (often coat proteins) take day-weeks to develop (delay)
* IgM - initial response to acute infection
* IgG - long term response
ongoing chronic infection
past infection
Viral proteins
- rarely measurable
- exception: Hepatitis B
Viral nucleic acid
- Polymerase chain reaction assays available
- most infections will be diagnosed by detection of organism nucleic acid in the future
alk phos is a marker of
cholestasis
Typical Case History of Acute Viral Hepatitis
30 year old woman with a 1 week history of: increasing fatigue nausea loss of taste for meat, oily foods 1-2 days of darkening urine, yellow eyes
PE: jaundice and moderately tender liver
AST, ALT, Alk phos elevated
Jaundice detected clinically once the serum bilirubin level rises above
3 mg per dL
ratio of amino transferases to alk phosphatases
transferases up? hepatocellular
alk phosphatases? cholestasis
symptoms of obstructive jaundice
classic constellation of tea-colored urine and clay-colored stool
Histology Acute Hepatitis
Lobular disarray
– Ballooned hepatocytes and acidophilic bodies
– Individual or confluent hepatocyte dropout
– Zonal, bridging, or panlobular necrosis
– Sinusoidal inflammatory cells
– Prominent Kupffer cells
- Mild portal inflammation
- No fibrosis
Hepatitis A Virus
Hepatitis A virus (ssRNA) is usually * self-limited disease, incubation period of 2 to 6 wks
Does not cause chronic hepatitis or a carrier state in the * immunocompetent patient
Generally transmitted via the * oral-fecal route, person to person/contaminated water and foods
Blood-borne transmission of HAV occurs only rarely*
Risk factors for Hep A infection
mostly unknown
sexual or houshold contact men sex w/ men int'l travel day care injection drug use food or water outbreak
Hep A pathobiology
- Receptor for HAV (* Picornavirus) is an integral membrane glycoprotein receptor
Genome serves as a messenger RNA that encodes both structural and nonstructural *viral proteins
In the cytoplasm * RNA translation into a polyprotein that is later processed to mature viral proteins
- Replication membrane-bound complex generates new viral genomes that are * exported out of cell into bile and to a lesser extent into blood
Hepatitis Viruses that ONLY Cause Acute Self-limited Disease
Hepatitis A
RNA virus (picornavirus)
Good vaccine available
Hepatitis E RNA virus (Hepeviridae)
Hepatitis E Virus
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an * enterically transmitted, water-borne infection
Feature of HEV infection is the * high mortality rate among pregnant women, approaching 20%.
Typically acute, self-limited icteric disease *without a chronic/carrier state, much like Hepatitis A
Hep E lab tests
Laboratory Tests
IgM antibody to hepatitis E for acute disease
IgG antibody to hepatitis E for past disease or immunity
Vaccine under development
Histopathology of Hepatitis E Infection
- Not much information on detailed histological appearances in hepatitis E.
Focal hepatocyte necrosis including frequent acidophil bodies, swollen (or ballooned) hepatocytes, and lymphocytic parenchymal and portal infiltrates
Canalicular cholestasis and gland-like transformation of hepatocytes.
Hepatitis Viruses that may Cause both Acute and Chronic Disease
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B + D
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis B Virus
DNA virus (Hepadnaviridae)
Replicates through RNA intermediate (like HIV)
Blood borne
Many serologic tests have been developed
prognosis with Hep B
Spontaneous recovery in patients infected at birth is less than 5%
Adult infections * spontaneously resolve in
95-99%
5-10% of infected individuals develop * chronic disease
Low prevalence areas (USA) unprotected sex and IV drug abuse are the * chief modes of spread.
Clinical Signs and Symptoms of Hepatitis B Infection
Fatigue Anorexia Nausea Jaundice/Scleral icterus Abdominal pain Arthralgia