Autoimmune hepatitis in the Indian subcontinent: 7 years experience

Abstract

Our results clearly demonstrate that: (i) AIH is not uncommon in India; and (ii) while the profile and spectrum of AIH resembles that seen in the West, Indian patients present late, often in a cirrhotic state.

Type 1 Autoimmune Hepatitis in Taiwan: Diagnosis Using the Revised Criteria of the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group

“…AIH was previously thought to be very rare in Taiwan, an endemic district with a high prevalence of hepatitis B and C, where clinicians are more familiar with viral hepatitis, and researchers tend to show great enthusiasm for the investigation of viral hepatitis diseases. A lower incidence of AIH was likewise observed in other Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, and India [5][6][7], compared to Western countries. The reason for the lower incidence of AIH in Asian countries is not fully understood; it may be attributed to genetic and geographic factors [13,14] or an underestimation of cases.…”

“…The disease has a global occurrence and is more prevalent in Western countries [3]. An estimated prevalence of 170 cases per million population was reported in northern Europe [4], whereas low prevalence rates were reported in Asian countries [5][6][7]. Likewise a very low incidence of AIH was found in Taiwan, where only a few case reports were noted up to 2001 [8], and more recently, there was one case series of AIH with a retrospective survey of small number of cases reported [9].…”

Epidemiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in India: The Great Shift East

“…The reason for such a low prevalence of PSC in India might be due to the overall low prevalence rate of autoimmune liver disease in Indian patients. Autoimmune liver disease accounted for only 1.7-5.7% of all cases of chronic liver disease in published reports from India [87,88] . Among them, PSC accounted for only 5.2% of all autoimmune liver disease cases and 0.2% of all cases of chronic liver disease.…”

Impact of the underlying cause and co-morbid conditions on the outcome of hepatic encephalopathy

“…All patients with AIH were females which are consistent with the fact that autoimmune diseases are commoner in female. 20 Clinically most of the patients presented with impaired level of consciousness and near half of them were grade II HE. Jaundice and flapping tremor were present in more than 80% of the cases justifying the diagnosis of the HE grade one and above.…”