AI Article Synopsis
- Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection, typically an acute illness, can lead to chronic hepatitis in immunocompromised patients, particularly those who have undergone kidney transplantation.
- Two cases of chronic hepatitis E were reported in kidney transplant patients, both successfully treated with ribavirin, a medication commonly used for viral infections.
- After three months of ribavirin treatment, both patients showed a significant decrease in HEV RNA, and their liver enzyme levels returned to normal without major side effects.
Article Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been recognized as an acute condition. However, recent reports have shown that immunocompromised patients, such as those receiving solid-organ transplantation, can develop chronic hepatitis with HEV infection. We report two cases of chronic hepatitis E after kidney transplantation (KT) who were successfully treated with ribavirin monotherapy. Several years after KT, both patients had sustained elevations in the levels of liver enzymes for a period of more than 6 months. Both patients had HEV infection, genotype 3a. Histological studies showed infiltration of inflammatory cells without fibrosis. Treatment included ribavirin monotherapy at a dosage of 600 mg daily for 3 months. One month after therapy initiation, HEV-RNA turned to negative, and remained negative at 24 weeks after ribavirin therapy without severe complications. Although the treatment of chronic hepatitis E is not fully established, ribavirin therapy can be a safe and effective treatment for chronic hepatitis E.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hepr.13363 | DOI Listing |
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