[Non-A, non-B viral hepatitis: occurrence, epidemiology and prognosis]

Out of 117 cases with acute viral hepatitis, 37 (32%) were classified as hepatitis A, 50 (43%) as hepatitis B and 30 (25%) as hepatitis non-A-non-B (NANB). In 21 of the 30 patients with hepatitis NANB, a possible mode of parenteral transmission could be found. The mean incubation period was 53 days. Only 3 patients had had blood transfusions. 14 (52%) of the 27 patients with sporadic hepatitis (without transfusions) had a mild course of the acute illness without, or with only mild, jaundice and transaminase values below 500 IU. The remaining 13 patients had a more severe form of acute hepatitis (bilirubin above 5 mg/dl, GPT above 500 IU), and in 11 of these 13 cases confluent necrosis was demonstrable on liver biopsy. 10 (37%) of the sporadic cases, of whom 8 had a mild form of acute hepatitis, and the 3 cases of posttransfusion hepatitis, were followed by a chronic course.