Tahir Siddique, Sadaf Farzand, Syeda Shaista Waheed, Faiza Khan.
Frequency of Hepatitis E (HEV) Patients in Medical Unit-I of A Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital Lahore.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;6(2):502-3.

Objectives: To identify the viral aetiology in acute hepatitis patients presented in medical unit, Social Security Hospital, Lahore, to determine the association of acute hepatitis due to HEV with pregnancy in female patients and to determine the course of hospital stay in HEV patients. Methodology: All those patients who were admitted in the medical unit-I from January 2011 to December 2011 were included in this study. The diagnosis was established with ALT more than ten times (400 iu/ml) of the normal range. To confirm the viral aetiology of acute hepatitis the ELISA technique was used to find HCV-IgM, HBV-IgM, HAV-IgM and for HEV-IgM. In female patients proper history was taken for recent pregnancy/ abortion and was confirmed with pregnancy test, obstetric ultrasound and with consultation of a gynaecologist. Results: Total 113 patients with acute hepatitis were admitted during the study period. Among these patients definitive viral aetiology was identified in 61 patients. Out of these 61 patients 27 were due to HEV, 7 due to HBV, 13 due to HAV and 14 due to HCV. Out of the 27 HEV patients 22 were male and 5 female. No history of preceding pregnancy/abortion was identified in all female patients. Conclusion: Acute hepatitis due to HEV is more common than HAV in labour class presented at NSSSH. Recovery in HEV infected acute hepatitis patients is almost the same as in other viral aetiologies.

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