HEPATITIS IN MONONUCLEOSIS

Abstract

KNOWLEDGE that infectious mononucleosis affects many organs, and publication of increasing numbers of articles dealing with complications, may engender a tendency to overestimate the incidence of complications and the gravity of the uncomplicated disease. The observations to be presented, as well as observations of others,1 indicate that liver involvement is not a complication but a regularly oc-curring feature of mononucleosis. This is not surprising, since the cause of mononucleosis appears to stimulate proliferation of lymphocytes, and the mesenchymal cells of the liver are potential precursors of lymphocytes. The realization that acute hepatitis is regularly present may be followed by the unwarranted assumption that this acute viral hepatitis should be managed like other viral diseases of the liver. Indeed, this recommendation has already been made.lc However, it is not logical to recommend identical therapeutic regimens for two viral diseases merely because they affect the same organ.