Hepatitis E virus infection in a patient with alcohol related chronic liver disease: a case report of acute-on-chronic liver failure

Virology Journal

Luis López¹  Sarah Daniela López Villa¹  María Belén Pisano²  Guadalupe Di Cola²  Anabella Fantilli²  Viviana Elizabeth Ré²  Maribel Wassaf Martínez³  Alina Zerega⁴ 

[1] Instituto Modelo de Cardiología, Córdoba, Argentina;Instituto de Virología “Dr. J. M. Vanella”- InViV- CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Enfermera Gordillo Gómez s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 5016, Córdoba, Argentina;LACE Laboratorios, Córdoba, Argentina;Sanatorio Allende, Córdoba, Argentina;

关键词: HEV;    Cirrhosis;    Chronic liver disease;    Acute-on-chronic hepatitis;    Argentina;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12985-021-01714-w

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been described as a causing factor for acute-on-chronic-liver-failure (ACLF) in patients with underlying chronic liver disease (CLD), such as chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, which could end in the failure of one or more organs and high short-term mortality. There are scarce data about the association of HEV in patients with chronic liver disorders in South America.Case presentationA 56-year-old hypertensive male with a history of type 2 diabetes was diagnosed with alcohol-related-liver cirrhosis in February 2019. A year later, the patient was admitted to hospital due to fatigue, jaundice and acholia. No evidence of hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, Epstein–Barr virus, herpes zoster virus and cytomegalovirus infections were found. Nevertheless, in February and March, 2020 the patient was positive for HEV-IgM and HEV-IgG, and HEV genotype 3 RNA was detected in sera. Afterwards, he presented grade I hepatic encephalopathy and, therefore, was diagnosed with acute hepatitis E-on-chronic liver disease. The patient reported a recent travel to the Argentine coast, where he consumed seafood. Besides, he reveled to have consumed pork meat and had no history of blood transfusion.ConclusionThis report describes a unique case of hepatitis E virus infection in a patient with alcohol-related cirrhosis. This is the first report of a patient with HEV-related ACLF in Argentina and it invokes the importance of HEV surveillance and treatment among patients with CLD, such as alcohol-related cirrhosis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY