Severe acute hepatitis and acute liver failure of unknown origin in children: a questionnaire-based study within 34 paediatric liver centres in 22 European countries and Israel, April 2022

Ruben H de Kleine; Willem S Lexmond; Gustav Buescher; Ekkehard Sturm; Deidre Kelly; Ansgar W Lohse; Dominic Lenz; Marianne Hørby Jørgensen; contributors to the survey

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.19.2200369

Severe acute hepatitis and acute liver failure of unknown origin in children: a questionnaire-based study within 34 paediatric liver centres in 22 European countries and Israel, April 2022

Euro Surveill. 2022 May;27(19):2200369. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.19.2200369.

Authors

Ruben H de Kleine^{1

2}, Willem S Lexmond^{2

3}, Gustav Buescher^{2

4}, Ekkehard Sturm^{2

5}, Deidre Kelly^{2

6}, Ansgar W Lohse^{2

4}, Dominic Lenz^{2

7}, Marianne Hørby Jørgensen^{2

8}; contributors to the survey⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, Division of Hepatobiliairy Surgery and Liver Transplantation, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
² European Reference Network for hepatological diseases (ERN RARE-LIVER).
³ Department of Paediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
⁵ Paediatric Gastroenterology/ Hepatology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
⁶ University of Birmingham, and The Liver Unit, Birmingham Women & Children's Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
⁷ Division of Neuropaediatrics and Paediatric Metabolic Medicine, Centre for Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
⁸ Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁹ The contributors to the survey are acknowledged at the end of the article.

PMID: 35551705
PMCID: PMC9101968
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.19.2200369

Abstract

To detect potential concern about severe acute hepatitis in children, we conducted a survey among 50 ERN RARE-LIVER centres. By 26 April 2022, 34 centres, including 25 transplant centres, reported an estimated median of 3-5, 0-2 and 3-5 cases in 2021, 2020 and 2019 and a mean of 2 (range: 0-8) cases between January and April 2022 (mean in 10 large liver transplant centres: 3). Twelve centres reported suspicion of an increase, but no rise.

Keywords: acute liver failure; hepatitis; liver transplantation; paediatric; virus.

MeSH terms

Acute Disease
Child
Hepatitis*
Humans
Israel / epidemiology
Liver Failure, Acute* / diagnosis
Liver Failure, Acute* / epidemiology
Liver Failure, Acute* / etiology
Liver Transplantation*
Surveys and Questionnaires