Fatal hepatic necrosis caused by disseminated type 5 adenovirus infection in a renal transplant recipient.

This is an unusual case of fatal hepatic necrosis caused by disseminated type 5 adenovirus in a renal transplant recipient. This adult patient may have been colonized at the time of transplantation with a kidney from a pediatric donor. The adenovirus became invasive when the host's cellular immune system was suppressed by high doses of corticosteroids given to reverse acute allograft rejection.