Ultrasound, hepatic lymph nodes and chronic active hepatitis

Thirty-two consecutive patients with a histological diagnosis of chronic active hepatitis were examined with liver biopsy, laboratory tests and ultrasonography of the hepato-duodenal ligament to investigate the possible correlation between enlarged lymph nodes in the hepato-duodenal ligament and biochemical activity, histological activity and/or humoral immunoreactivity. We found a significant correlation between lymph-node size and serum alkaline phosphatase in the total material. In the hepatitis C-virus-associated group of patients a significant correlation between the size of the lymph nodes and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase was found. In the autoimmune group there was a trend towards a negative correlation between lymph-node size and albumin.