Home > Liver & intrahepatic bile ducts > Hepatitis A virus (HAV)

Liver & intrahepatic bile ducts

Viral hepatitis

Hepatitis A virus (HAV)

Author: Komal Arora, M.D.

Last author update: 1 May 2012

Last staff update: 25 September 2020

Copyright: 2002-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

PubMed Search: Hepatitis A virus[mh] liver[TIAB]

Table of Contents

Cite this page: Arora K. Hepatitis A virus (HAV). PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/liverhepA.html. Accessed December 22nd, 2024.

Definition / general

Fecal - oral transmission via contaminated food or water
Associated with overcrowding or poor sanitation
Usually children (asymptomatic or symptomatic without jaundice)
In adults, infection more severe with malaise and jaundice for 7 - 10 days
Rarely causes massive hepatic necrosis and acute liver failure; fatal in < 0.5% of cases
May cause acute cholestatic hepatitis with bile ductular proliferation, neutrophils around ducts, cholestasis, hepatocyte ballooning, pseudoglands around bile plugs
Does not produce chronic disease or carrier state in immunocompetent patients
Causes 50% of hepatitis cases in US; effective vaccine available

Virology

Due to picornavirus, 27 nm virion with single stranded RNA

Diagrams / tables

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Drawing of virion

Laboratory

Serum IgM anti-HAV is more reliable than immunostains

Microscopic (histologic) description

Periportal inflammation and necrosis, ballooning degeneration, apoptosis
Cholestasis and increased portal and periportal plasma cells are relatively specific for hepatitis A
Acidophil bodies or cytolysis are present (collapse of reticulin network where cells have disappeared with appearance of macrophage aggregates)
Bridging necrosis if severe hepatitis
Also interface hepatitis (inflammatory infiltrate spills over into adjacent parenchyma to cause necrosis of periportal hepatocytes)
Relative sparing of centrilobular hepatocytes

Microscopic (histologic) images

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