| [ Summary ] |
In recent years, the survival rate for fulminant hepatitis in Japan has been about 50% for acute type disease, about 10% for subacute type disease and about 30% for all types. The survival rate for acute type disease has risen significantly as compared with ten years ago.
However, the rate for all types has not improved significantly. Looking at etiologies, the highest survival rate is about 60% for type A hepatitis, followed by about 35% for type B hepatitis and about 20% for drug-induced, non-A, non-B hepatitis. The survival rate is extremely low in patients with liver atrophy, underlying disease and complications. Although no single treatment can improve the prognosis of patients with hepatitis, therapeutic results of liver transplantation, which has recently been performed in pediatric cases, are comparatively good (survival rate 79%). Based on the Primary Indications for Liver Transplantation (1996), living-related donor partial liver transplantation has begun to be attempted in adult cases. Bioartificial livers are also expected to have an influence on the survival rate. |