chronic active hepatitis
The definitions used in this glossary of terminology either have been provided by the authors of the articles, or have been extracted wholly or in part, or paraphrased from the following sources: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, Charles B. Clayman, MD, Medical Editor, Random House, New York, 1989; Biotechnology from A to Z, 2d Edition, William Bains, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; A Dictionary of Genetics, 6th Edition, Robert C. King and William D. Stansfield, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 29th and 30th Editions, W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 2000, 2003; Genes VII, Benjamin Lewin, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2000; The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, Volumes I and II, Stacey L. Blachford, Ed., Thomson Learning, New York, New York, 2002; The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, Massachusetts, 1997; Molecular Biology of the Cell, 3rd Edition, Bruce Alberts, et al., Garland Publishing, 1994; The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged Edition, 1966; Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1991.
DEFINITION:
- chronic active hepatitis
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Also called "chronic aggressive hepatitis" - chronic inflammation of the liver occurring as a sequel to hepatitis B or certain other types of hepatitis; the same disease may occur in congenital or acquired hypogammaglobulinemia, or in association with the administration of certain drugs. It is characterized by infiltration of portal areas by plasma cells and macrophages, piecemeal necrosis (destruction of hepatocytes in the periphery of lobules), and fibrosis. The course is highly variable; there may be long asymptomatic periods interspersed with periods of symptomatic hepatitis with jaundice, malaise, anorexia, and fever; there may be extrahepatic manifestations, including amenorrhea, arthritis, skin rashes, vasculitis, thyroiditis, glomerulonephritis ulcerative colitis, and Sjögren's syndrome; or the disease may progress to cirrhosis and liver failure. An autoimmune pathogenesis is suspected. Called also "autoimmune hepatitis," "lupoid hepatitis," "plasma cell hepatitis," or "subacute hepatitis" and "acute juvenile cirrhosis."
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Used in 1 Term definition