There a Relation between Hepatic Fibrosis due to Chronic Hepatitis B and C, and Fibrosis of the Lung?

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to find out if the process of hepatic fibrosis due to hepatitis B and C accentuates the development of fibrosis of the lungs. Method: Cases with histories of parenchymal hepatic biopsies were scanned retrospectively, which had been biopsied due to hepatitis B and C diagnoses. Among these patients, those who had undergone a computed tomographic (CT) examination of the chest during the year following the biopsy procedure were investigated for signs of lung fibrosis. The hepatic biopsy results were categorized into two groups on the basis of the modified hepatic activity index, and these were evaluated in comparison with the lung fibrosis findings diagnosed at CT. Results: Findings of lung fibrosis were found in 43.8 % of the patients with hepatitis B and C. When the group with the pathological diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis (Stages 1-5) was compared with the no-hepatic-fibrosis group, it was found that no statistically significant difference existed between these two groups, in terms of positive or negative lung fibrosis findings at CT of the chest. Conclusions: There is no correlation between the development of hepatic fibrosis and lung fibrosis.