Hepatitis E in an HIV-infected patient
Section snippets
Case history
A 50-year-old HIV-1-infected man presented in June 2008 with increased liver biological tests. Alanine aminotransferases (ALT) level was 427 IU/l, aspartate aminotransferases level was 230 IU/l, gamma-glutamyltransferases level was 118 IU/l, bilirubinemia was 8 μmol/l, and prothrombin index was 86% (Fig. 1). CD4+ T lymphocyte count (CD4 count) was 144/mm3, and plasma HIV-1 RNA level was undetectable (Cobas TaqMan assay, Roche Diagnostics, Meylan, France; detection threshold 40 copies/ml) on
Evidence-based answers
How could you explain the evolution of hepatitis E infection in this observation?
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute hepatitis in tropical and sub-tropical countries.2 Moreover, sporadic autochthonous hepatitis E is currently considered as an emerging disease in industrialized countries.2 Very recently, chronic hepatitis E has been described in 13 kidney or liver-transplant recipients in Western Europe, and associated cirrhosis was reported in five cases.4, 5, 6, 7 These
Conflict of interest
No conflict of interest related to this article for all authors.
Financial support
No financial support for this research.
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