[Serological studies in acute, chronic and autoimmune hepatitis]

Abstract

The various forms of chronic and acute hepatitis are today exclusively diagnosed by serological tests, since clinical criteria do not permit exact classification of a specific hepatitis type. This contribution deals with the most important serological findings relating to the acute forms of viral hepatitis "in the strict sense" - hepatitis A (HA), hepatitis B (HB), hepatitis D (HD) and hepatitis C (HC). The serological markers for chronic active hepatitis B (CAH-B), chronic hepatitis C (CAH-C), primary active biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and the auto-immune forms of chronic hepatitis (AIH) are also discussed.