Acute Hepatitis E is an Underreported Cause of Severe Acute Liver Injury

Breu et  al1 identified hypoxic hepatitis, drug-induced liver injury, hepatobiliary obstruction, and viral hepatitis as the common causes of severe acute liver injury (ALI). In their study and in other recent studies from the United States and Europe, severe ALI has been attributed to acute viral hepatitis in 10% to 15% cases, but acute hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been reported in only 4 of 726 (0.6%) episodes.1–3 This is surprising given the high HEV seroprevalence in Central Europe and the United States,4,5 an increasing number of hospitalizations for confirmed HEV infections,6 and med ian peak alanine aminotransferase levels of 700 to 1200 IU/L in sporadic cases of acute hepatitis E.
Source: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research