Chronic hepatitis C combined with fatty liver

  The patient, male, 50 years old, was hospitalized for “abnormal liver function for 5 days on physical examination”. The patient was mentally and appetitively well and had no complaints of discomfort. He denied a family history of liver disease, and his father was a hypertensive patient. The patient had been drinking alcohol for 20 years, about 100-200g/d; ultrasound examination suggested fatty liver for 20 years, and hypertension was found for more than 10 years, up to 180/100mmHg, and he was taking Enalapril 5mg bid (2 times/day) before admission, but his blood pressure control was unstable, fluctuating around 150/90mmHg. mmol/L, 1 hour postprandial glucose 13.2mmol/L, 2 hour postprandial glucose 8.6mmol/L, 3 hour postprandial glucose: 6.7mmol/L, treated with metformin at the local hospital; checked blood lipids: TG: 6mmol/L. Physical examination: blood pressure 150/90mmHg, weight 88kg, height 168cm, waist circumference 112cm, height 168cm, body mass index about 31. TCM examination: fat tongue, white and greasy tongue coating, slippery pulse.  Laboratory examination: liver function was mildly abnormal (ALT:71.4U/L, TBil:19.9mmol/L, the rest was basically normal), fasting blood glucose: 6.72mmol/L, hourly postprandial blood glucose 10.19mmol/L, TG: 2.19mmol/L, insulin measurement: 43.58mmol/L, ultrasound suggested: inter-echoic homogeneity of liver parenchyma, deep tissue attenuation, fatty liver, anti-HCV positive, HCV-RNA quantification: 3.2*10^4Copies/ml. Admission diagnosis: viral hepatitis C chronic mild, alcoholic fatty liver, hypertension grade 3, hypertriglyceridemia, abnormal glucose tolerance.  After admission, treatment was given: 1. Avoid alcohol. 2. Diet therapy: the patient was obese and caloric intake should be controlled. It is recommended that daily calorie intake should be controlled at about 1600 Kcal/d, with adequate calorie supplementation, attention to protein and vitamin supplementation, and fat not exceeding 35-45 g/d. This patient has abnormal glucose tolerance, so he should control sugar, various sweet foods and high-calorie foods appropriately, and increase protein intake moderately, about 120-150 g/d, while limiting high-fat diet, especially limiting the intake of animal fat rich in saturated fatty acids. The remaining calories were supplemented by carbohydrates, and salt was restricted to about 6g per day. Encourage drinking water to promote metabolism and excretion of metabolic waste. 3. Exercise therapy: Ask patients to start with light aerobic exercise and gradually reach moderate aerobic exercise. The exercise should be fast walking, starting with a 10-minute preparation period, and after reaching the target heart rate of 100-120 beats/min, insist on 30-40 minutes, 5 times a week, and gradually increase the amount to 7 times a week after the patient gets used to it, and the exercise time should be extended to 1 hour. 4. Drug therapy: Western medicine should be given polyene-phosphatidylcholine to scavenge oxygen free radicals, protect liver cell membranes and regulate lipid metabolism, and enalapril to lower blood pressure. In addition, Chinese herbal soup was given to strengthen the spleen, dispel dampness, soften the liver and regulate lipid treatment. After 10 days of hospitalization, pegylated interferon alpha-2a 180ug ih qw combined with ribavirin 300mg tid antiviral therapy was added. After 15 days of hospitalization, the patient’s blood pressure was controlled at about 130/85mmHg, weight decreased by 2kg, waist circumference reached 108cm, liver function returned to basic normal (ALT:22.2U/L, TBIL:17.4umol/L), blood lipids (TG:1.88mmol/L), insulin measurement: 27.61, fasting glucose 6.13mmol/L The effect was obvious, so the application of lipid-lowering drugs with liver damage and drugs to improve insulin resistance and more antihypertensive drugs was avoided. At 1.5 months of hospitalization, blood pressure was stabilized at about 120/80 mmHg, weight decreased by 5 kg, waist circumference reached 102 cm, tongue was red, tongue coating was moist, and pulse was string. Liver function continued to be basically normal (ALT:30U/L, TBIL:18.4umol/L), blood lipids (TG:1.11mmol/L), insulin measurement: 12.9, fasting blood glucose 5.04mmol/L, 2 hours postprandial blood glucose 8.3mmol/L, rechecked HCV-RNA quantification: 〈80 Copies/ml, suggesting that the patient’s central obesity was significantly reduced, insulin resistance was relieved, hypertriglyceridemia disappeared, blood pressure was well controlled, liver function returned to normal, and the antiviral efficacy of hepatitis C was significantly improved because the patient’s liver steatosis improved, hepatitis C virus was negative, early response was achieved, and liver inflammatory response and histological progress were significantly controlled. A repeat ultrasound at more than 2 months of treatment showed homogeneous liver parenchymal echogenicity, disappearance of deep tissue attenuation, and no abnormalities in the hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and spleen, suggesting disappearance of fatty liver imaging. The patient continued to receive antiviral therapy for hepatitis C for 6 months. The patient continued to adhere to exercise therapy and diet therapy and gradually lost weight to 79 kg and waist circumference to 96 cm, and the repeat ultrasound still showed no abnormality in the liver, bile, pancreas and spleen.