In-hospital post-transplant acute hepatitis A viral (HAV) infection in a liver transplant recipient who was HAV seropositive pre-transplant

We report a case of acute hepatitis A infection in a liver transplant recipient. This individual had immunity to hepatitis A with protective IgG antibodies and presented with abnormal liver biochemistry in the post-transplant in-patient setting. Hepatitis A infection was confirmed by positive HAV IgM whereas other etiologies, including acute cellular rejection, were ruled out by laboratory tests and liver biopsies. He was treated conservatively with supportive care and liver enzymes recovered to normal baseline. Despite adequate pre-transplant immunity, in the post-transplant setting there may be loss of protective immunity due to profound immunosuppression and hence hepatitis A should remain an important differential diagnosis in the setting of acute hepatitis.

Source: The Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology - January 28, 2019 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Julie Zhu Fatema Alalkim Trana Hussaini Siegfried R Erb Vladimir Marquez Mel Krajden Douglas Webber Eric M Yoshida Source Type: research