Echovirus Hepatic Failure in Infancy: Report of Four Cases with Speculation on the Pathogenesis

Disseminated echovirus infection with fulminant hepatic failure occurs almost exclusively in newborns. Although a relatively uncommon condition, it is on occasion associated with neonatal death accompanied by diffuse and extensive hemorrhagic necrosis of the liver and adrenals as the defining finding. We report four cases of severe systemic neonatal echovirus infection and present histologic and clinical evidence to demonstrate the two histologic patterns of liver involvement; intravascular coagulation in the early clinical course and a veno-occlusive component in later stages of the disease. Viral damage to vascular endothelium and hepatic venous endothelium by a "hit-and-run" process in the early viremic phase rather than direct hepatocyte injury is postulated to be a mechanism.