title: [An adult with chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection associated with repeated liver dysfunction].
abstract: A 30-year-old woman with hepatitis for 5 months was admitted to our hospital. She had been given a diagnosis of liver dysfunction 2 years previously, and the hepatitis in this case was believed to be drug-induced. On admission, the patient was asymptomatic. Serologic tests for hepatitis A, B, and C were negative, and the laboratory results showed a WBC count of 7600/mm3 (lymphocytes, 85%), an AST level of 559 U/L, ALT level of 427 U/L, and EBV-DNA of 2.9x10(6) copies/microg DNA. Histopathological examination of the liver biopsy specimens revealed moderate lymphocyte infiltration in the sinusoids and positive Epstein-Barr-encoded RNA (EBER) -lymphocytes. Therefore, chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection (CAEBV) was diagnosed. However, 9 months after the diagnosis she died of mycotic sepsis. We presume that the patient may have developed CAEBV at the prior diagnosis of liver dysfunction 2 years previously. Therefore, CAEBV associated with liver dysfunction should be considered during the differential diagnosis of patients showing persistent liver dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hematology, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine. endo16@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Tsugumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukushi
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Juichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Shinsaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D012008:Recurrence