Abstract
In this communication we report 46 cases of acute liver failure in children diagnosed at the Hospital Infantil Nossa Senhora da Glória in Vitória, E Santo. Serology for IgM anti-HAV, IgM anti-HBc, HbsAg, anti-HCV and biochemical tests were performed in all cases in a routine laboratory. The M/F ratio was 1.1:1 and the mean age was 4.7 +/- 3.2 years, without gender difference. Anti-HAV IgM+ in 38 (82.6%) cases, anti-HbcIgM+ in two (4.3%) cases and 6 (13.1%) cases were negative for all viral markers investigated. Anti-HCV+ in one anti-HAV IgM+ case. HbsAg+ in two anti-HbcIgM+ and in two HAVIgM+ cases. Among the six A, B and C negative cases, four (8.6%) did not have the suspected exogenous intoxication. Mortality was 50%, without gender or age differences. These results demonstrate that HAV infection is the main etiology of acute liver failure in children in Brazil, confirming that, although it is a self limited, relatively mild illness, it can cause serious and even fatal disease. The observation of four cases without A, B and C viral markers and no history of exogenous intoxication, agree with the observation of non A-E acute sporadic hepatitis in Northeastern Brazil.
Highlights
In this communication we report 46 cases of acute liver failure in children diagnosed at the Hospital Infantil Nossa Senhora da Glória in Vitória, E Santo
The data related to age, sex, birthplace, biochemical findings, results of serology for hepatitis virus, duration of illness and evolution from these 46 cases were collected and analyzed
The Children’s Hospital NS da Glória is a reference Hospital for the public health system that attends children of low social-economic status from the different cities of Espirito Santo State. In this series 67.4% of children come from the suburbs of Metropolitan Vitória and 22.6% from other cities
Summary
The study is a description of a series of 46 cases of children with acute liver failure, retrieved from 109 records of children with diagnosis of acute hepatitis, admitted at the Children’s Hospital NS da Glória from January 1992 to January 1999. Biochemical tests (total bilirubin, serum albumin, ALT, AST and prothrombin time) and serology for HAV (anti-HAV IgM), for HBV (HbsAg and anti-HBc IgM) and anti-HCV, were done in all cases, using commercial kits in a routine laboratory. The criteria for inclusion of a case as acute liver failure were laboratory evidence of liver failure (increased billirrubin levels over 2mg/dl and a prothrombin time lesser than 55% of the control, that corresponds to International Normalization Ratio equal or higher than 1.5), associated with signs of hepatic encephalopathy. Among the 109 children with acute hepatitis, 46 had clinical signs of acute liver failure according the criteria cited above. The ethical Committee from the Biomedical Center, Federal University of Espirito Santo approved this research
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
