Investigation of simplified international diagnostic criteria for autoimmune hepatitis

: The simplified international diagnostic criteria for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), re-revised by the International AIH Group in 2008, were investigated in 114 patients with AIH from 15 centers in Japan. While applying of the criteria, we had to pay attention to anti-nuclear antibody measurement methods, and liver histology scoring. Definite and probable AIH were diagnosed in 83 and 22 patients, respectively. The criteria were found to be useful for the diagnosis of AIH in Japan. However, 9 patients who did not meet the diagnostic criteria showed normal immunoglobulin G levels or were negative for autoantibodies. As the criteria were unreliable for diagnosing such atypical cases in the present series, we speculated that we should not rely solely on these, criteria and take a more holistic approach to diagnosis in such cases.