Fulminant adenovirus hepatitis following bone marrow transplantation. A case report and brief review of the literature

Abstract

Adenovirus infections are frequently encountered in immunocompromised patients and transplant recipients. However, fulminant hepatic failure due to adenovirus infection as a fatal complication in bone marrow transplant recipients is extremely rare. We report a case of fulminant adenovirus hepatitis in a 21-year-old allogeneic bone marrow transplant recipient who subsequently died of the disease. The diagnosis was established by histologic and immunohistochemical examination of a liver biopsy and was confirmed by liver tissue and blood cultures.