Usefulness of antithrombin III and alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor in early differentiation of fulminant hepatitis and severe form of acute hepatitis.

To evaluate the usefulness of antithrombin III (AT III) and alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor (alpha 2PI) in early differential diagnosis of fulminant hepatitis from the severe form of acute hepatitis, the activities of AT III and alpha 2PI were measured in plasma of 15 patients with fulminant hepatitis and 6 patients with severe form of acute hepatitis. The activities of prothrombin time (PT), hepaplastintest (HPT) and thrombotest (TT) were also evaluated. The mean values and the standard errors (SE) for PT, HPT and TT were 21.1 +/- 2.6%, 14.0 +/- 1.6% and 10.3 +/- 1.7%, respectively, in the early stage of fulminant hepatitis and 25.3 +/- 2.4%, 21.6 +/- 4.6% and 15.8 +/- 3.6%, respectively, in the severe form of acute hepatitis. No significant difference in the tests between these two diseases was noted. On the other hand, the mean values +/- SE for AT III and alpha 2PI were 13.7 +/- 4.6% and 25.6 +/- 8.6% in fulminant hepatitis and 70.2 +/- 28.5% and 98.7 +/- 9.7% in the severe form of acute hepatitis. A significant difference between the two diseases was observed. From the above, it is concluded that measuring AT III and alpha 2PI along with PT, HPT and TT is useful for early diagnosis of fulminant hepatitis.