Features and Progression of Asymptomatic XXXX in Italy.

@entity1 @entity1087 @entity648 @entity409 @entity3929 @entity99 @entity792 @entity775
BACKGROUND _ AIMS: @entity1 with @entity775 ( @entity775 ) can present with symptoms ranging from those that are insidious and nonspecific to acute @entity99 with @entity1087 . However, some @entity1 have no symptoms at diagnosis and are identified incidentally. We investigated disease progression and outcomes of these 2 groups of @entity1 . METHODS: We performed a retrospective study to compare clinical, immunologic, and histologic features and outcomes of @entity1 with asymptomatic vs symptomatic @entity775 . We analyzed data collected from 305 @entity1 (90 asymptomatic and 215 with symptoms), diagnosed with @entity775 from 1994 and 2013, at the Bologna Medical Center in Italy. RESULTS: At diagnosis, @entity1 with asymptomatic @entity775 had significantly lower mean levels of @entity3929 aminotransferase (7.0-    8.0-fold the upper limit of normal) than @entity1 with symptomatic disease (23.0-    18.0-fold the upper limit of normal; P < .001), and lower mean levels of @entity648 (1.4    1.4 mg/dL vs 8.6    10.4 mg/dL; P < .001). Asymptomatic @entity1 also had significantly lower histologic grades (7.0    2.5) than symptomatic @entity1 (9.0    2.9; P < .001). However, larger proportions of asymptomatic patients had anti-liver/kidney microsomal antibodies type 1 (26.8% vs 13.1%; P < .006), and associated autoimmune thyroid (26.7% vs 12.6%; P  = .003) or skin (8.9% vs 2.3%; P  = .010) disorders. Age at onset, sex, response to therapy, disease progression, genetic factors, and other autoantibody markers did not differ between @entity1 with asymptomatic vs symptomatic disease. CONCLUSIONS: @entity1 with asymptomatic vs symptomatic @entity775 have similar courses of disease progression and responses to immunosuppressive agents, and therefore should receive the same treatment. @entity1 affected by thyroid or dermatologic @entity792 are at increased risk of developing subclinical @entity409 , and should be assessed routinely for @entity775 .
