Abstract

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection (CAEBV) is characterized mainly by prolonged or intermittent fever, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly without definite underlying diseases at the diagnosis. Patients with CAEBV also may have various life-threatening conditions including hematological, neurological, pulmonary, cardiac, digestive tract, ocular and/or dermal disorders. Additionally, during the course of illness, they often develop hematological malignancies such as T cell, NK cell or B cell lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD) and/or lymphoma. No causative pathogenetic mechanisms have been sufficiently clarified, and additionally no promising efficacious treatment was demonstrated except for the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in cases who develop T cell or NK cell LPD or lymphoma. This minireview outlines the recent development for the comprehensive viewpoints of CAEBV mainly regarding to virological, immunological, pathological and therapeutical progresses.

Keywords: CAEBV, T cell, NK cell or B cell LPD, HSCT.

Graphical Abstract