[Radioimmunologic determination of hepatitis antigen and its clinical implications]

The AA. carrie out an analysis of the results obtained by means of the radioimmunologic method and concludes as follows: 1) Au-positive acute hepatitis represent the more largely diffused form among adult people; 2) from a clinical point of view, it seems appropriate to modify definitions of A and B hepatitis, of infectious hepatitis or serum hepatitis, classifying this disease as follows: a) hepatitis with positive antigenemy; b) hepatitis with negative antigenemy; and this independently from the anamnestic and epidemiologic elements. In the second part of this report, the AA., after introducing some considerations on the effects of the therapy by means of steroids, illustrate the data concerning a study carried out on a group of Au-positive and Au-negative subjects, subdivided into treated and non treated patients. From these analysis, even if a statistical survey has not been made, no elements are noticed, able to differentiate the behaviour of the two groups of hepatitis studied, in comparison with the therapy by means of steroids. One single Au-negative case, within a certain period of time, after the therapy with steroids, showed the presence of a positivity of immunologic phenomena only by the radioimmunoassay.