Liver iron concentration in chronic viral hepatitis: a study of 98 patients

To compare the liver iron concentration (LIC)of Italian patients with chronic hepatitis B and C with those of controls, to evaluate increased LIC frequency in patients and to investigate the influence of the haemochromatosis gene in the development of liver iron overload.Prospective controlled trial in two northern Italian hospitals.Ninety-eight patients (61 men and 37 women), 85 with chronic hepatitis C and 13 with chronic hepatitis B, and 38 control individuals (20 men and 18 women).Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to determine LIC; standard lymphocytotoxicity test was used for HLA typing in patients with increased LIC; and family studies were performed for patients with major iron overload.Mean LIC was significantly higher in both patient groups than in the controls. Thirty-five patients (36&) had an increased LIC. Twenty-six of these patients had a minor iron overload, whereas nine (9.2&) had a major overload. HLA-A3 antigen was present in five out of the 26 and in four...