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Original Article

Drug-induced liver injury: a cohort study on patients referred to the Danish transplant center over a five year period

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Pages 450-454 | Received 06 Oct 2016, Accepted 28 Nov 2016, Published online: 15 Dec 2016
 

Abstract

Objective: The idiosyncratic subtype of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a rare reaction to medical treatment that in severe cases can lead to acute liver failure and death. The aim of this study was to describe the presentation and outcome of DILI and to identify potential predictive factors of poor outcome.

Materials and methods: We identified all patients diagnosed with DILI at the Department of Hepatology, Rigshospitalet, from March 2007 to November 2012. The following parameters were registered from patient files: drug causing DILI, symptoms, comorbidity, biochemistry, treatment and outcome.

Results: Of 43 patients, 25 (58%) were female with a mean age of 54 years. The two most frequent causes of DILI were Disulfiram (30%) and antibiotics (19%). The most common symptoms were jaundice, nausea, fatigue and gastrointestinal discomfort. At the time of admission, the most frequent biochemical findings included bilirubin elevated to above 3.2 × ULN, ALT elevated to above 9 × ULN in 86%, INR above 1.4 in 70%. Twenty two patients needed treatment in the liver intensive care unit. Fifteen patients developed acute liver failure with a severe outcome. Six patients were liver transplanted and nine patients died. Jaundice, a moderately elevated bilirubin level or INR at presentation was predictive of severe outcome.

Conclusion: In this retrospective study, 35% of patients with DILI developed severe acute liver failure and were either liver transplanted or died. Our results underline that DILI may be severe and run a fatal course, and that bilirubin and INR levels may predict poor outcome.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

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