A numerical taxonomic analysis of symptoms and signs in 400 patients with cirrhosis of the liver

✍ Scribed by P. Winkel; M. Paldam; N. Tygstrup

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1970
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 502 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0010-4809
• DOI: 10.1016/0010-4809(70)90033-9

✦ Synopsis

Based on numerical taxonomical analysis of the symptomatology in 400 patients with cirrhosis, two groups of 26 and 104 patients were isolated and compared with regard to data not used for the classification. Female patients predominated in the smaller group, a history of hepatitis was more frequent, and the liver tests were more abnormal than in the larger group. In the latter group male patients predominated, and a history of alcoholism was frequent.

The key criterion of the diagnosis cirrhosis of the liver is the presence of regeneration nodules, usually detected by liver biopsy (I). The diagnosis covers a wide spectrum, regarding clinical manifestations as well as prognosis and response to treatment, presumably because several types of cirrhosis exist. Many attempts have been made to define the types, but general agreement has not been attained (2,3). The present work was performed to study if the clinical and histologic observations in patients with biopsy-proven cirrhosis permit a meaningful classification of the patients.