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A double blind, randomized, controlled trial has been conducted in 11 Veterans Administration hospitals during a 49-month period to compare the relative efficacies of immune serum globulin (ISG) and an albumin placebo for the prevention of post-transfusion hepatitis (PTH). A total of 2204 patients, of whom 1094 received ISG, participated in the study. The results indicate that ISG significantly reduced the incidence of icteric type non-B hepatitis only (inferred to be also type non-A hepatitis). Adverse reactions were rare, and the ISG did not significantly alter the incubation period or duration of the disease. The data suggest, however, that a similar reduction in type non-A, non-B hepatitis would have occurred had commercial blood been excluded from use. Analysis of the 241 patients who developed hepatitis indicates that type B hepatitis constituted less than 20% of the cases each year of the study. Furthermore, the efficacy of the ISG, manufactured in 1944, against apparent type non-A, non-B hepatitis suggests that this overlooked disease has existed from at least that time. Host- and transfusion-related factors that might have modified the development of PTH were examined. The use of commerical blood was observed to be the most important risk factor. It is concluded that the PTH incidence can be most effectively reduced by eliminating commercial donor blood, and continuing to screen volunteer donors for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) by sensitive procedures. Of prime importance is the need to define the agent(s) responsible for type non-A, non-B hepatitis.

The significance of megamitochondria in the alcoholic liver injury of humans was investigated as part of a large Veterans Administration cooperative study of the natural history of alcoholic hepatitis. Two hundred twenty patients were clinically stratified into the following three groups according to disease severity using serum bilirubin and prothrombin time as indicators: Group 1 (mild disease), serum bilirubin levels less than 5 mg/dl and prothrombin time prolonged for less than 4 s; group 2 (moderate disease), serum bilirubin levels greater than 5 mg/dl but prothrombin time prolonged for less than 4 s; and group 3 (severe disease), serum bilirubin levels greater than 5 mg/dl and prothrombin time prolonged for greater than 4 s. Megamitochondria were observed in 20% of the patients (45 of 220). Of these, 43 patients were in groups 1 and 2 of severity and only 1 patient belonged in group 3. The association of megamitochondria with cirrhosis was infrequent (33%, 15 of 45 patients). The differences in severity correlated with the differences in mortality: in patients with megamitochondria, only 1 had died at 6 mo compared with 40 deaths in patients without megamitochondria. By 12 mo, there were two deaths in patients with megamitochondria versus 51 deaths in those patients without. No complications were present in 72% of patients with megamitochondria versus 39% for those without. Infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, pancreatitis, hyperglycemia, azotemia, delirium tremens, seizures, and hepatic encephalopathy were all more common in patients without megamitochondria. The patients with megamitochondria appear to represent a subcategory of alcoholic hepatitis with a milder degree of clinical severity, lower incidence of cirrhosis, fewer complications, and good long-term survival.

As part of a large multicenter Veterans Administration Cooperative Study of Alcoholic Hepatitis, 89 patients with clinically mild biopsy-proven disease were followed for at least 30 months. Although clinical and laboratory abnormalities were minimal, cirrhosis was present in 38%, and mortality was 22% at 30 months. Clinical features suggesting more advanced disease (i.e., ascites and encephalopathy) and laboratory parameters for the diagnosis of alcoholic hepatitis and/or cirrhosis were imprecise and frequently misleading. The histologic diagnosis of cirrhosis correlated best with changes in immunoglobulin A, prothrombin time, and SGOT/SGPT. However, by using logistic discriminant analysis on 26 commonly available laboratory tests to diagnose cirrhosis, only a 72% sensitivity and 88% specificity could be obtained. Mortality in the patients with cirrhosis (10/34) was significantly higher at 1 and 2 yr compared with patients without cirrhosis (10/55, p less than 0.01). The high mortality in noncirrhotics may have resulted from progression to cirrhosis subsequent to the initial evaluation. Thus, liver biopsy in this population with minimal disease seems necessary to establish both an accurate diagnosis and the reversibility of the disease.

Hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) and immune serum globulin (ISG) were examined in a randomized, double-blind trial to assess their relative efficacies in preventing type B hepatitis after needle-stick exposure to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAG)-positive donors. Clinical hepatitis developed in 1.4% of HBIG and in 5.9% of ISG recipients (P = 0.016), and seroconversion (anti-HBs) occurred in 5.6% and 20.7% of them respectively (P less than 0.001). Mild and transient side-effects were noted in 3.0% of ISG and in 3.2% of HBIG recipients. Available donor sera were examined for DNA polymerase (DNAP) and e antigen and antibody (HBeAg; anti-HBE). Both DNAP and HBeAg showed a highly statistically significant correlation with the infectivity of HBsAg-positive donors. Hepatitis B immune globulin remained significantly superior to ISG in preventing type B hepatitis even when the analysis was confined to these two high-risk subgroups. The efficacy of ISG in preventing type B hepatitis cannot be ascertained because a true placebo group was not included.

A cooperative study was conducted to determine the efficacy of 30 days of treatment with either a glucocorticosteroid (prednisolone) or an anabolic steroid (oxandrolone) in moderate or severe alcoholic hepatitis. One hundred thirty-two patients with moderate disease and 131 with severe disease were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: prednisolone, oxandrolone, or placebo. During the 30 days, mortality in the groups receiving steroid therapy was not significantly different from mortality in the placebo group. Thirteen per cent of the moderately ill patients and 29 per cent of the severely ill patients died. Although neither steroid improved short-term survival, oxandrolone therapy was associated with a beneficial effect on long-term survival. This was especially true in patients with moderate disease: among those who survived for one or two months after the start of treatment the conditional six-month death rate was 3.5 per cent after oxandrolone and 19 to 20 per cent after placebo (P = 0.02). No consistent long-term effect was associated with prednisolone therapy.

A randomised, double-blind, controlled trial has been undertaken to compare the efficacy of hepatitis B immune globulin (H.B.I.G.) with that of immune serum globulin (I.S.G.) for the prophylaxis of viral hepatitis. Participants in the trial were individuals exposed accidentally to material infectious for hepatitis (primarily viral B hepatitis). Preliminary evaluation of the first 302 of the 561 individuals entered into the study indicates that H.B.I.G. significantly reduced the frequencies of both clinical and subclinical hepatitis during the first 3--4 months after the injection. Less than 10% of H.B.I.G. recipients had detectable anti-HBs at the sixth month after the injection, suggesting that H.B.I.G. might need to be given every 3--4 months to continually exposed individuals. Further long-term evaluation is required in order to define more clearly those most likely to benefit from H.B.I.G.

A double blind, randomized, controlled trial has been conducted in 11 Veterans Administration hospitals during a 49-month period to compare the relative efficacies of immune serum globulin (ISG) and an albumin placebo for the prevention of post-transfusion hepatitis (PTH). A total of 2204 patients, of whom 1094 received ISG, participated in the study. The results indicate that ISG significantly reduced the incidence of icteric type non-B hepatitis only (inferred to be also type non-A hepatitis). Adverse reactions were rare, and the ISG did not significantly alter the incubation period or duration of the disease. The data suggest, however, that a similar reduction in type non-A, non-B hepatitis would have occurred had commercial blood been excluded from use. Analysis of the 241 patients who developed hepatitis indicates that type B hepatitis constituted less than 20% of the cases each year of the study. Furthermore, the efficacy of the ISG, manufactured in 1944, against apparent type non-A, non-B hepatitis suggests that this overlooked disease has existed from at least that time. Host- and transfusion-related factors that might have modified the development of PTH were examined. The use of commercial blood was observed to be the most important risk factor. It is concluded that the PTH incidence can be most effectively reduced by eliminating commercial donor blood, and continuing to screen volunteer donors for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) by sensitive procedures. Of prime importance is the need to define the agent(s) responsible for type non-A, non-B hepatitis.