Chronic active hepatitis of hepatitis B and non-A, non-B etiology

Sixty-six consecutive liver biopsies demonstrating chronic hepatitis (CAH) were stained for the presence of HBsAg using the three-step peroxidaseantiperoxidase technique. Only cases of CAH thought to be attributable to either hepatitis B or non-A, non-B hepatitis were included in this series. Twenty-three of 30 biopsies taken from 24 patients with HBsAg-positive serum stained positively. None of the HBsAg sero-negative cases stained postively. Hepatocytes staining positively for HBsAg were generally few in number and randomly distributed within the liver lobules. Three cases of membranous staining were noted. After grading both the degree of inflammatory activity and the amount of HBsAg staining, we found that a statistically significant inverse relationship exists. The biopsies of six of the GBsAg sero-positive patients who had received steroid therapy for their liver disease did not stain differently from the biopsies of the remaining 18 HGsAg sero-positive patients. Stains for HBsAg may help in distinguishing acute hepatitis B (HB) superimposed on preexisting liver disease from hepatitis B-CAH (CAHB). This distinction may be possible because tissue staining almost always is negative in acute HB, whereas it often is focally positive in CAHB. This application of immunoperoxidase may be especially useful in patients who are drug addicts.