Autoimmune hepatitis is a form of chronic liver disease characterized by progressive hepatocellular inflammation, which usually responds to treatment with corticosteroids. However, 10% of patients with autoimmune hepatitis are refractory to corticosteroids and develop progressive liver disease and cirrhosis. We describe five patients with autoimmune hepatitis who did not respond to conventional corticosteroids and azathioprine therapy who were then treated with cyclosporine A. Cyclosporine A was started at 2-3 mg/kg/day and induced biochemical remission in four of five patients within 3 months. One of the four responders relapsed within 1 month of discontinuing cyclosporine on two occasions. Each time, liver tests promptly normalized after reinitiation of cyclosporine. Two responders were managed with cyclosporine alone. The single patient who did not respond to cyclosporine developed progressive liver failure, underwent orthotopic liver transplantation, and subsequently died of disseminated cytomegalovirus infection. Cyclosporine was generally well tolerated and none of the patients developed renal insufficiency. These data and review of 11 cases in the literature show that cyclosporine can induce remission of liver disease in patients with autoimmune hepatitis who are refractory to corticosteroids.

The incidence of gallstone disease in patients with cirrhosis is greater than that in healthy patients. Previous surgical literature reported greater morbidity and mortality in patients with cirrhosis with both open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). We compared our recent experience with LC in patients with cirrhosis and controls. A retrospective review was performed using the search terms, ''cirrhosis'' and ''laparoscopic cholecystectomy.'' Forty-eight patients with cirrhosis were identified and randomly matched with healthy controls by age and sex.

Autoimmune hepatitis is a form of chronic liver disease characterized by progressive hepatocellular inflammation, which usually responds to treatment with corticosteroids. However, 10% of patients with autoimmune hepatitis are refractory to corticosteroids and develop progressive liver disease and cirrhosis. We describe five patients with autoimmune hepatitis who did not respond to conventional corticosteroids and azathioprine therapy who were then treated with cyclosporine A. Cyclosporine A was started at 2-3 mg/kg/day and induced biochemical remission in four of five patients within 3 months. One of the four responders relapsed within 1 month of discontinuing cyclosporine on two occasions. Each time, liver tests promptly normalized after reinitiation of cyclosporine. Two responders were managed with cyclosporine alone. The single patient who did not respond to cyclosporine developed progressive liver failure, underwent orthotopic liver transplantation, and subsequently died of disseminated cytomegalovirus infection. Cyclosporine was generally well tolerated and none of the patients developed renal insufficiency. These data and review of 11 cases in the literature show that cyclosporine can induce remission of liver disease in patients with autoimmune hepatitis who are refractory to corticosteroids.

We report a patient who developed significant liver dysfunction following therapy with terbinafine. At the end of a 3 1/2-wk course of terbinafine, he developed progressive jaundice and pruritus. His serum bilirubin peaked at 30.9 mg/dl 3 wk after discontinuing terbinafine. A liver biopsy revealed mild to moderate mixed cellular infiltrate in the portal tracts, and hepatocellular and canicular cholestasis. His liver tests normalized 100 days after stopping terbinafine.

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