Acute Liver Failure in a Healthy Young Female With COVID-19

Babak John Orandi; Geling Li; Deepti Dhall; Prachi Bajpai; Upender Manne; Nitin Arora; Ailing Lu; Ana Carolina Coronado; Rachel Kassel; Swetha Pinninti; Cora Elizabeth Lewis; Christopher Chapleau; Jayme Elizabeth Locke; Luz Helena Gutierrez Sanchez

doi:10.1097/PG9.0000000000000108

Acute Liver Failure in a Healthy Young Female With COVID-19

JPGN Rep. 2021 Jul 22;2(3):e108. doi: 10.1097/PG9.0000000000000108. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Affiliations

¹ From the Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
² Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
³ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
⁴ Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
⁵ Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
⁷ Department of Pharmacy, University of Alabama, at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.

Abstract

Several well-described manifestations of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been reported. Among them, a transient elevation of liver enzymes is the typical presentation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) liver-related injury. The mechanism of liver involvement is likely a combination of viral injury and immune-mediated inflammation. In contrast, acute liver failure in the setting of COVID-19 has rarely been reported. Herein, we report a case of pediatric acute liver failure in a previously healthy female adolescent infected with SARS-CoV-2 with biopsy evidence of replicating virus in hepatocytes, which has not been previously reported.

Keywords: COVID-19; acute liver failure; liver transplant.

Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer on behalf of European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition.

Publication types

Case Reports