Weber-Christian panniculitis and chronic active hepatitis.

We report a 4-year-old child with Weber-Christian panniculitis who subsequently developed histologically proven chronic active hepatitis, pancreatitis and extensive lipoatrophy. An "LKM" variant autoantibody was detected in the serum and a favourable response has been seen with immunosuppressive therapy. These findings lend support to the concept of Weber-Christian being an "auto-immune" disease.