Chickenpox-associated fulminant hepatitis that led to liver transplantation in a 63-year-old woman.

A 63-year-old woman treated with prednisone for sinusitis developed fulminant liver failure due to a clinically unsuspected primary varicella zoster virus infection. The diagnosis of herpetic hepatitis was made from a liver biopsy, and varicella zoster virus viremia was detected by polymerase chain reaction. She was treated successfully with transplantation and perioperative administration of acyclovir.