Clinical evaluation of four cases of acute viral hepatitis complicated by pure red cell aplasia.

Four patients with acute viral hepatitis complicated by pure red cell aplasia were clinically evaluated. Two patients with hepatitis type A, one with hepatitis type B, and one with posttransfusion non-A non-B hepatitis had pure red cell aplasia. Only the patient with posttransfusion hepatitis was female, and the mean age of the four patients was 37.8 yr (31-51 yr.) The mean interval from the onset of hepatitis to the appearance of pure red cell aplasia was 30.5 days (27-37 days), and the development of hematopoietic disorders coincided with decreases in transaminase levels. Laboratory findings included peak serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase levels of 1305-3160 KU and decreases in the prothrombin time to about 50% in the two patients with hepatitis type A. Pure red cell aplasia was successfully treated by prednisolone or transfusion in all patients.