Pleural effusion, rash, and anergy in icteric hepatitis.

Abstract

WE recently cared for a patient with an illness in many ways typical of viral hepatitis, but this diagnosis was not considered initially because pleural effusion was the primary presenting sign. Cases with pleural effusion as the presenting sign of viral hepatitis are rare in the recent medical literature.1 During his acute illness our patient had transitory cutaneous anergy, a rarely reported feature of viral hepatitis.Case ReportA 42-year-old ophthalmologist was admitted to the University of California Hospitals with pleuritic pain, anorexia, nausea, and vomiting after six days of fever, malaise, mild headache, and myalgia. Examination showed no abnormalities . . .