Korean J Hepatol.  2010 Sep;16(3):329-333. 10.3350/kjhep.2010.16.3.329.

Clinical courses after administration of oral corticosteroids in patients with severely cholestatic acute hepatitis A; three cases

• Yoon EL
• Yim HJ
• Kim SY
• Kim JH
• Lee JH
• Lee YS
• Lee HJ
• Jung SW
• Lee SW
• Choi JH

• KMID: 1717330
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3350/kjhep.2010.16.3.329

Abstract

Acute hepatitis A is currently outbreaking in Korea. Although prognosis of acute hepatitis A is generally favorable, a minority of patients are accompanied by fatal complications. Severe cholestasis is one of the important causes of prolonged hospitalization in patients with acute hepatitis A. In such cases, higher chances of additional complications and increased medical costs are inevitable. We report three cases of severely cholestatic hepatitis A, who showed favorable responses to oral corticosteroids. Thirty milligram of prednisolone was initiated and tapered according to the responses. Rapid improvement was observed in all cases without side effects. We suggest that corticosteroid administration can be useful in hepatitis A patients with severe cholestasis who do not show improvement by conservative managements. Clinical trial will be needed to evaluate effectiveness of corticosteroids in these patients.

Keyword

Acute hepatitis A; Cholestasis; Corticosteroid

MeSH Terms

Acute Disease
Administration, Oral
Adult
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use
Cholestasis/*drug therapy/etiology/pathology
Hepatitis A/*complications/diagnosis
Humans
Liver/pathology
Male
Predni