The pathology of hepatitis.

The natural history of postnecrotic cirrhosis; a study of 221 autopsy cases.

The incidence of residuals of viral hepatitis.

OCCASIONAL reports of a high incidence of * primary carcinoma of the liver have appeared in the American medical literature in recent years. These observations have not in general received a great deal of attention, owing at least in part to the fact that the number of cases of carcinoma in such reports has been small. During the course of a review of biliary-system neoplasms at this hospital it was noted that the number of primary carcinomas of the liver, both hepatomas and cholangiomas, had significantly increased during the past eight years. Whereas the incidence in 15,491 autopsies during the . . .

Cirrhosis and primary carcinoma of the liver; changes in their occurrence at the Boston City Hospital, 1897-1954.

ALTHOUGH many papers have appeared on cirrhosis of the liver, there is only scattered information pertaining to this condition in infants and children. Most of the reports have dealt with a particular type or phase of cirrhosis and have included only a few isolated and often unclassified cases. Nevertheless, as more data accumulate, it appears that cirrhosis of the liver is not as uncommon a disease in infants and children as had originally been believed and that there are certain features in regard to etiology, incidence, and pathogenesis which are more or less characteristic of this age group.* The identification of the etiologic agent in cirrhosis is frequently difficult if not impossible. Although Laennec's (portal) cirrhosis is common in adults, it occurs rarely in children. A number of specific factors have so far been recognized as being responsible for cirrhosis in infants and children: Nutritional.—A chronic deficiency of high-quality

Cirrhosis of the liver in infants and children.

THE PROBLEM of hepatitis has become a very real one since the onset of World War II. Just as in and after World War I, the incidence of hepatitis and perhaps the virulence of the icterogenic substance, which has definitely been shown to be a virus, have become greater. Our observations are presented to bring out the following points: That the virulence of the organism during the two years previous to this report has been great, especially when it has been transmitted by the infusion of plasma or blood. That there is a correlation between the results of liver function tests and the clinical course of the disease. That the physician should be alert concerning the possibility of homologous serum jaundice and of syringe-transmitted hepatitis. That chronic hepatitis and portal cirrhosis do exist as sequelae of acute hepatitis. From July 1946 through December 1948, 100 patients with hepatitis

M F Koszalka

Papers

HEPATITIS AND ITS SEQUELAE, INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PORTAL CIRRHOSIS: Observations on One Hundred Cases