Clinical Manifestations, Laboratory Findings and Disease Course of Iranian Pediatric Patients Diagnosed with Hepatitis A Infection

According to some provincial reports, prevalence of hepatitis A has had a decreasing trend during the past decade in Iran. We aimed to overview clinical manifestations and laboratory findings of Iranian pediatric patients diagnosed with hepatitis A infection. This retrospective study was performed on 162 consecutive pediatric cases of hepatitis A infection. Data were collected by reviewing hospital records on admission to hospital. The mean±SD age of participants was 9.90±4.08 years and 55.6% were boys. Regarding clinical manifestations, the most frequent symptom was jaundice. Fever was more prevalent in girls than in boys; whereas, abdominal tenderness was more prevalent in boys compared to girls. There was no difference in the prevalence of other clinical indices as well as in laboratory parameters between two sexes. Diarrhea was significantly more frequent in children younger than 2 years compared with other age subgroups. However, abdominal tenderness was more frequent in older patients compared to younger children. Regarding laboratory parameters, except for serum direct bilirubin that raised less in children younger than 2 years, the prevalence of other biochemical markers abnormality was comparable in different age groups. Hepatitis A infection is a common finding among Iranian children that equally occurs in boys and girls, while commonly appearing in children aged 7-18 years. The most frequent abnormal changes in laboratory parameters refer to change of liver enzymes, serum bilirubin, serum albumin and coagulated indices.