Indian childhood cirrhosis--like liver disease in an Arab child. A brief report.

An Arab female child presented with rapidly progressive liver disease, with apparent onset in late infancy and death at 15 months. Microscopy showed panacinar hepatitis, portal and pericellular fibrosis, and diffuse Mallory bodies in the absence of steatosis or significant cholestasis. Hepatic copper concentration was moderately elevated. Known causes of early childhood cirrhosis were excluded. This case meets most of the established criteria of Indian childhood cirrhosis, yet is unusual in its occurrence in a child of Arab ancestry and in having a moderate degree of hepatocellular copper overload.