Autoimmune hepatitis is liver inflammation due to your immune system attacking your liver. During the early stage, there is no symptom. Later patients will have symptoms, such as lethargy or extreme fatigue, itchy skin, joint pain, fever, abdominal pain and bloating, weight loss, and recurrent nose bleeding. Female patients may also have little or no menstruation. Physical examination can find enlarged liver, enlarged spleen, jaundice and ascites. Severe cases can quickly progress to cirrhosis and liver failure. The main purpose of treatment is to relieve symptoms and slow the progress to liver fibrosis. Glucocorticoids alone or in combination with azathioprine therapy are the current standard treatment. Liver transplantation is an effective method for treating end-stage liver cirrhosis.
How is Autoimmune hepatitis treated in practice?