Liver disease in Papua New Guinea

This paper gives, in detail, the causes of either liver disease or hepatomegaly in 100 patients, mostly adults, admitted to the medical wards of Angau Memorial Hospital, Lae, during 1968 and 1969. The major findings included liver cell carcinoma, cirrhosis (often with chronic active hepatitis), tropical splenomegaly, pericholangitis and hepatitis. There were 27 with miscellaneous findings including ten with normal, or almost normal, livers despite the definite enlargement. Patients with liver cell carcinoma presented late in the course of their illness and had a poor prognosis. Others, with pericholangitis, had clinical features of portal hypertension indistinguishable from that complicated cirrhosis. There was an unexpected number with chronic active hepatitis and a liver biopsy is essential for such a diagnosis. Hepatic sinusoidal lymphocytosis is almost invariably found in patients with TS but may occasionally be found in those with a non-palpable spleen. Patients with right heart failure of chronic respiratory disease, and jaundice of acute pneumonia were excluded from the study.