Abstract
Sickle hepatopathy comprises a spectrum of disorders that vary in
severity. Intravascular sickling and sinusoidal occlusion are the
principal drivers of sickle hepatopathy, but infection or autoimmunity
may act as triggers. We describe two cases of acute sickle hepatopathy
initiated by primary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, a previously
unreported association. The first case entailed a 14-year-old girl with
hemoglobin SC (HbSC) disease who developed hepatic sequestration crisis
that responded to a simple transfusion of erythrocytes. The second case
was that of a 16-year-old boy with HbSC disease who experienced
life-threatening intrahepatic cholestasis with multi-organ failure.