Abstract
Hepatitis of unknown etiology, the so called cryptogenic hepatitis, may lead to severe liver injury. Its prevalence varies widely between the published studies. Its diagnosis is based mostly on exclusion of the known etiologic entities which remain very heterogeneous. Atypic cases of autoimmunity especially seronegative for autoantibodies or unknown viral infection may be involved. Improvements of molecular biology techniques in virology led to the identification of new hepatotropic viruses such as GBV/C or TTV in the last 90's. However, their liver pathogenicity remains doubtful. More recently in 2000-2001, new viral agents such as TTV variants, TLMV, Yonban, Sanban and SEN-V have been discovered but their implication in liver diseases still remains questionable. Furthermore, several studies have underlined the existence of occult HBV as well as HCV infections undetectable with the present commercially available diagnostic tests. In the near future, both progress in virology and relevant clinico-epidemiological studies will very likely identify new viral agents involved in cryptogenic hepatitis. This should allow new therapeutic approaches to improve the prognosis of the disease.
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