Acute Severe Icteric Hepatitis Caused by the Novel Corona virus: A Case Report

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV-2) cases are being frequently reported nowadays and the objective of this clinical case report is to highlight its unique presentation as acute icteric sever hepatitis.
Case report: A 28-year-old female patient presented with 3 days history of fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and jaundice. Lab investigations revealed positive COVID-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test along with picture suggestive of acute severe hepatitis (Aspartate aminotransferase; 2772 U/L (N: <32), Alanine transaminase; 2522 U/L (N: <33), Alkaline phosphatase; 172 U/L (N: 35-104), direct bilirubin 4.2 mg/dl (N: 0-0.3)). The patient was admitted, monitored and started on supportive therapy for 5 days and was discharged well for outpatient follow-up.
Conclusion: Requesting liver function test for COVID-19 patients who presents with gastrointestinal symptoms is a crucial decision that can guide us with the management of the case since many drugs used in the treatment of the new SARS‐CoV-2 infection are hepatotoxic and should therefore be used with caution.
Keywords: Hepatitis, COVID-19, SARS‐CoV‐2, COVID-19 hepatitis, icteric hepatitis
Citation: Al-Hasnawi DH, Kareem AM. Acute severe icteric hepatitis caused by the novel Corona virus: A case report. Iraqi JMS. 2021; 19(1): 56-59. doi: 10.22578/IJMS.19.1.8