The Syndrome of Hepatitis and Aplastic Anaemia

S ummary . Eighty‐eight cases of severe pancytopcnia closely following the onset of apparently typical viral hepatitis have been described. We report two additional patients. Remarkable features of the syndrome are the rapid, high mortality (88%) and the fact that the age and sex distribution parallel that of hepatitis, not that of other wries of aplastic anaemia. Although viral damage to haematopoietic cells can be demonstrated in vitro , chromosonies in our patients were normal after short‐term culture of peripheral lyrnpliocytes. Therapeutically, androgens may be of some benefit despite the high mortality. No adequate explanation for the association is available, but infectious hepatitis should be accepted as a potential cause of aplastic anacmia.