Autoimmune Hepatitis A Case Report and Literature Review

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2019

Publication Title

Bulletin of the Hospital for Joint Disease

Volume

77

Issue

2

First page number:

146

Last page number:

152

Abstract

Introduction: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a cause of chronic liver disease. It is usually suspected based on clinical presentation and laboratory findings, but the diagnosis relies on the presence of specific autoantibodies and characteristic histology. Other unexplained findings should always prompt investigation for coexisting syndromes. Case Presentation: The patient is a 60-year-old Hispanic female with a history of mild asthma presented with exertional and pleuritic chest pain with weight loss, arthralgia, subjective fever, and night sweats for the last 3 months. Given the nonspecific nature of the presentation, further workup was pursued. Laboratory results indicated pancytopenia, elevated INR, and positive autoimmune panel including ANA, anti-chromatin, anti-histone, and rheumatoid factor as well as abnormal C3 and C4. Subsequent liver biopsy with interface hepatitis lead to a diagnosis of AIH with concurrent systemic lupus erythematosus suspected. Conclusion: The diagnostic work up for AIH is multimodal and aims to differentiate other etiologies such as congestive hepatopathy, iron overload, viral hepatitis, and other autoimmune liver diseases. In this particular case, unusual clinical and laboratory findings led to diagnosis of the overlap syndrome. Treatment for both was necessary to prevent further progression of disease.

Disciplines

Hepatology | Immune System Diseases

Language

English


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