Vol.23 No.5

Case Report

An elderly patient with chronic active Epstein?Barr virus infection with mixed cryoglobulinemia and review of the literature

Authors

Kunihiro Ichinose 1 , Tomoki Origuchi2 , Naoki Tashiro4 , Keita Fujikawa1 , Toshiyuki Aramaki1 , Kazuhiko Arima1 , Mami Tamai3 , Satoshi Yamasaki1 , Hideki Nakamura1 , Hiroyuki Moriuchi5 , Atsushi Kawakami1

  • Department of Rheumatology, Unit of Translational Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8501, Japan
  • Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  • Center for Health and Community Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
  • Kosei-kai Nijigaoka Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan
  • Department of Pediatrics, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan
Received:

16 April 2012

Accepted:

23 July 2012

Published online:

16 August 2012

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Abstract

A 76-year-old woman was diagnosed with
chronic active Epstein?Barr virus (EBV) infection (CAEBV)
with sustained fever, anemia, numbness of the lower
limbs, and liver dysfunction. The patient had an unusual
anti-EBV antibody profile and high viral load, positive
rheumatoid factor, and cryoglobulinemia. She suffered
from recurrent hemosputum with pleural effusion and
thrombocytopenia caused by CAEBV infection, and she
died in July 2008. Here, we present a rare case of CAEBV
infection with cryoglobulinemia in an elderly patient.

Key words

Chronic active Epstein?Barr virus, Cryoglobulinemia, Elderly patient, NK activity