title: Acute hepatitis in childhood: virological, immunological and clinical aspects.
abstract: Virological, immunological and clinical findings in 7 previously healthy children, aged 18 months to 11 years, with viral hepatitis are reported. Asymptomatic and fully recovering, although protracted, hepatitis B was diagnosed by chance in a 1 1/2 year-old boy. Anicteric and short-term hepatitis occurred in three children with Epstein-Barr virus infection, concomitantly with typical mononucleosis syndrome. On the contrary, cytomegalovirus (CMV)-associated hepatitis was severe and protracted in two children, and fatal in a 4-year-old girl, whose main autoptic finding was submassive hepatic necrosis. Therefore, our study showed that acute viral hepatitis in non-immunocompromised children is generally self-limited and that CMV hepatitis is more frequent and severe than commonly believed.
authors.affiliation: IV Paediatric Department of La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nigro
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bartmann
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mattia
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nastasi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torre
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manganaro
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Perrone
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tucciarone
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male