Acute liver failure associated with influenza A virus infection: an autopsy case report.

An 84-year-old man with chronic renal failure, anemia, and diabetes was admitted for hemodialysis initiation. His vital signs were stable until the eighteenth hospital day, before having an influenza A virus infection. Three days later, he died of septic shock with severe liver impairment. His leukocyte count, prothrombin time (PT-INR), and liver enzymes, such as AST and ALT, were significantly increased. Hypercytokinemia was also observed. Autopsy revealed bilateral diffuse pneumonia with neutrophil infiltration. The liver showed extensive centrilobular hepatocyte necrosis. Immunohistochemistry for influenza A nucleoprotein was positive in the ciliated columnar epithelium of the bronchi and negative in the trachea, lungs, and liver. Hypoxic hepatitis is characterized by an abrupt and massive increase in aminotransferase levels (more than 20 times of the upper normal limit) due to the anoxic centrilobular hepatocyte necrosis. The occurrence of hypoxic hepatitis requires a pre-existing, chronic condition, such as anemia, causing less oxygen supply to the liver, followed by an acute drop in hepatic oxygen supply, such as septic shock. Therefore, this report suggests that hypoxic hepatitis can be an important causative factor for acute liver failure associated with influenza virus infection.