Chronic B and C viral hepatitis represent public health problems worldwide and also in Romania, not only because of their prevalence, but also through severe complications and associated pathology. Many of the clinical, biological and histological aspects of chronic B and C hepatitis are common, but each of them has some particular, etiology dependent changes, which can influence the evolution. Association of alcohol to chronic viral hepatitis affects clinical and biological aspects, aggravates histological changes and leads to a faster evolution to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Using the data of 262 patients infected with hepatitis B or C virus, we tried to show the particular biochemical and histological aspects of chronic viral hepatitis, the influence of alcohol upon them and to find some relationships between biological and histological changes.
Keywords: viral hepatitisz, alcohol, biological changes, histopathologic aspects