Unusual cause of abdominal pain in pediatric emergency medicine

Abstract

Atypical manifestations of acute hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection include ascites, pleural effusion, acute renal failure, aplastic anemia, and neurological manifestations. Although association of HAV and acute cholecystitis is known, presentation of hepatitis A infection with acute cholecystitis has not been reported in pediatric emergency medicine literature. Primary acute acalculous cholecystitis in children is rare and commonly attributed to systemic infections. We report a case of a child developing acute viral cholecystitis as a presenting feature of sporadic HAV infection and review HAV-associated cholecystitis in chil- dren. The article provides a brief illustration of evaluating acute abdominal pain in older children in the emergency department in a developing country