Hepatitis survival guide
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:
Overview
This section provides a short and straight to the point overview of the disease or symptom. The first sentence of the overview must contain the name of the disease.
Causes
Life Threatening Causes
Life-threatening causes include conditions that may result in death or permanent disability within 24 hours if left untreated.
- Acetaminophen overdose
- Heat stroke
- Mushroom poisoning
Common Causes
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis D
- Hepatitis E
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Epstein Barr virus
- Cytomegalovirus
- Herpes simplex virus
- Antibiotics
- Anticonvulsant drugs
Diagnosis
Shown below is an algorithm summarizing the diagnosis of hepatitis[1][2].
Patients commonly present with:
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On physical examination there can be:
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| Perform liver function tests | |||||||||||||||||
The following results are suggestive of acute hepatitis:
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Treatment
Shown below is an algorithm summarizing the treatment of acute hepatitis[1][3].
Look for severe clinical symptoms like nausea, vomiting, hepatic encephalopathy, i.e., changes in sleep pattern, altered mental status, agitated behavior, and lab finding of hepatic failure, i.e., prolonged prothrombin time and elevated serum bilirubin levels. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For Hepatitis A:
Supportive treatment. Maintain adequate hydration with oral or intravenous fluid. Regular monitoring of INR and LFTs to assess liver function. | For Hepatitis B:
Supportive Treatment. All family members and close-contacts should be screened for the infection. Hepatitis B surface antigen should be rechecked at regular intervals to assess the chronicity of infection. | For Hepatitis C:
Early Interferon alpha therapy should be initiated as it results in undetectable viral levels with sustained anti-viral action. | Required hospitalization with regular monitoring | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Do's
- The content in this section is in bullet points.
Don'ts
- The content in this section is in bullet points.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ryder SD, Beckingham IJ (2001). "ABC of diseases of liver, pancreas, and biliary system: Acute hepatitis". BMJ. 322 (7279): 151–3. doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7279.151. PMC 1119417. PMID 11159575.
- ↑ "StatPearls". 2020. PMID 31855397.
- ↑ Jaeckel E, Cornberg M, Wedemeyer H, Santantonio T, Mayer J, Zankel M; et al. (2001). "Treatment of acute hepatitis C with interferon alfa-2b". N Engl J Med. 345 (20): 1452–7. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa011232. PMID 11794193.