Fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis in a renal transplant recipient associated with the hepatitis B virus precore mutant.

A patient with evidence of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (seropositive for hepatitis B surface antigen, and with antibody to hepatitis B e antigen) underwent renal transplantation, which subsequently failed. The patient developed abnormal liver function tests and 8 months after the removal of the transplanted kidney, hepatitis B virus DNA was detected in the serum in the absence of hepatitis B e antigen. Liver biopsy revealed the presence of fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis. Sequence analysis of the serum hepatitis B virus DNA showed the presence of the pre-core mutant. This case shows that fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis can occur outside the setting of liver transplantation, and coincided with the development of the pre-core mutant of hepatitis B virus.