Functional Hepatic Impairment in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

¹ The National Jewish Hospital at Denver.
² The National Jewish Hospital at Denver., Laboratory.

1) Fifty-three cases of pulmonary tuberculosis varying in severity from minimal to far advanced were studied for functional hepatic impairment.

2) Studies were limited to cephalin-flocculation and bromsulphalein tests.

3) Although hepatic dysfunction was demonstrated in a large percentage of cases with a single test, only in a small percentage were both tests positive.

4) In the doubly positive group, correlation with the extent of disease seemed to exist.

5) Inanition per se had little influence over the individual cephalin-flocculation and bromsulphalein tests.

6) It is impossible to predict hepatic damage based upon history and clinical picture in pulmonary tuberculosis.

7) No relationship exists between the chronicity of tuberculosis and hepatic damage.