Hepatitis A as an etiologic agent of acute liver failure in Latin America.

Background: This prospective, multicenter study examined the importance of hepatitis viruses as etiological agents of acute liver failure (ALF) and the outcome of ALF cases in Latin American children and adolescents.

Methods: The study was conducted for minimum 12 months in 9 centers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico during 2001-2002. Hospitalized patients aged 1-20 years with a suspected diagnosis of ALF were included in the study and tested for serologic markers for hepatitis A, B, and C viruses.

[Chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis caused by C virus before and after liver transplantation. Report of one case].

We report a girl with a chronic hepatitis caused by C virus diagnosed at the age of nine, unsuccessfully treated with interferon and ribavirine. Two years later, she was subjected to a liver transplantation. She maintained elevated viral loads with a normal pathological study of the liver until 22 months after transplantation.