Outcome of hepatitis in children with acute leukemia
W. Malone and R. Novak
The cases of 31 children with acute leukemia and concurrent hepatitis were
evaluated for the outcome of their hepatitis. Thirteen of these children
had hepatitis B and 18 children had a non-B hepatitis. Chronic hepatitis
developed in more than half of the children with acute hepatitis, with the
majority of cases being of the chronic, active type. A majority of these
children had received at least one blood transfusion in the preceding year.
No relationship was seen between the development of chronicity of the liver
disease and the management of the acute hepatitis or the state of
underlying disease. With the potential for a cure for acute leukemia
increasing, a method of reducing the sequelae of hepatitis in children with
leukemia is needed.
