ACUTE episodes of jaundice during the course of cirrhosis in alcoholics are common and considered to represent a stage of cirrhosis. The possibility that an acute episode of jaundice in a cirrhotic patient might represent a bout of viral hepatitis has been considered to be an unlikely or undiagnosable complication of cirrhosis.1,2 It is the purpose of the present report to describe seven patients with established cirrhosis, each of whose course was complicated by an episode of jaundice judged to be that of posttransfusion hepatitis.
Material and Methods
Standard techniques3 were used for the tests of liver function and related procedures. The abbreviations used and the normal values for each of these procedures are as follows:The seven patients described (Table 1) had been studied at the West Side Veterans Administration Hospital or Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago. Each was observed during the episode of jaundice by one