The etiology of acute viral hepatitis for the last 3 years at a single institution in Seoul

Background/Aims : Hepatitis A is increasing during the recent years in Korea, and sporadic cases of hepatitis E are not rare. We investigated the etiology of acute viral hepatitis, including 27 cases of coinfection with hepatitis A and E, during the last 3 years. Methods : Retrospective analysis of one hundred eleven patients with acute viral hepatitis at Chung-Ang University Hospital was done from January 2005 to July 2007. The patients were positive for any one of the following tests: IgM anti-HAV, IgM anti-HBc, HCV RNA and IgM anti-HEV. Results : The proportions of acute viral hepatitis A, B and C were 94.6% (105/111), 4.5% (5/111) and 0.9% (1/111), respectively. Among the patients with hepatitis A, 27 patients (24.3%) were positive for IgM anti-HEV. We analyzed 105 patients with either hepatitis A only or they had coinfection of hepatitis A and E. The mean age, the duration of the hospital stay, the mean levels of serum transaminase, bilirubin and albumin and the protrombin time were similar between the patients with hepatitis A only and those with coinfection of hepatitis A and E. All the patients were discharged without serious complication such as fulminant hepatic failure. The biochemical liver function tests were normalized in all patients within 8 weeks. Conclusions : The most common etiology of acute viral hepatitis in Koreans was the hepatitis A virus. Patients coinfected with hepatitis A and E were observed. The patients with coinfection of hepatitis A and E showed no significant difference in their clinical features and laboratory parameters, as compared to the patients with hepatitis A only. (Korean J Med 74:624-631, 2008)