[Therapy and prognosis of chronic hepatitis]

The classification of chronic hepatitis in a chronic persistent and a chronic aggressive form, the latter with mild or strongly inflammatory activity, has proven valid and had been widely accepted. The long-term therapy of the chronic persistent form (to be confirmed histologically several times) consists merely in a basis-therapy (diet, abstinency from alcohol, physical rest, vitamins). With same caution chronic aggressive hepatitis with little activity is being treated. Rival therapeutic measures for forms with a strongly inflammatory activity are only corticosteroids alone or in combination with azathioprine as well as D-penicillamine in small quantities.