We recently read with interest the report by Ben-Ari and colleagues1 regarding fulminant non–A-G viral hepatitis. The authors of this article, in its title and throughout the study, refer to this syndrome as if it were definitely viral in etiology. We believe that this is misleading and deserves clarification.
There have been several labels given to the syndrome of idiopathic fulminant hepatic failure. These include non-A, non-B fulminant hepatic failure2; seronegative fulminant hepatic failure3; and acute sporadic non-A, non-B, non-C, non-D, and non-E hepatitis.4 Unifying all of these labels is the exclusion of hepatitis A and B as causes of acute liver failure. In white patients it has now been well demonstrated that hepatitis C, E, and G are not pathogenically important.2,5