Abstract

Autoimmune hepatitis (IAH) is a rare inflammatory liver disease with an autoimmune nature that is characterized by predominantly affecting female patients. Variable patterns of presentation of this disease should be observed at time of diagnosis and there are few epidemiological data in Brazil in relation to this disease. Our objective was to evaluate the epidemiological profile of patients with IAH of the Gastroenterology Service of Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual “Francisco Morato de Oliveira”, HSPE-FMO, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Descriptive, retrospective and observational study, with analysis of data from the medical records of patients, from July 2002 to July 2020. 35 patients were selected, with a female predominance (91.4%) and the average age at the diagnosis was 54.7 ± 14.2 years. The presence of extrahepatic autoimmune disease was observed in 45.7% of the cases with a predominance of thyroiditis (31.4%). Regarding the initial presentation, 59.4% of the patients presented with an acute jaundice, 31.3% with isolated elevated serum transaminases and 6.3% with decompensated liver cirrhosis. At the time of diagnosis, 50% presented with elevated gamma globulins, 79.4% with a positive standard ANA and 37.4% with positive anti-smooth muscle antibody. In relation to the initial histological evaluation, the presence of advanced fibrosis (F3 / F4) was observed in 39.2% and the most common histological finding observed was interface hepatitis in 58,3%. The present study showed a high prevalence of females among IAH patients with an average age higher than that observed in other studies already published in our country. In relation to the main form of initial clinical presentation, the acute jaundice form was predominantly similar to the other national studies and the presence of advanced fibrosis in the initial histological evaluation was seen in a considerable proportion of patients.

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