A Challenge for Diagnosing Acute Liver Injury with Concomitant/Sequential Exposure to Multiple Drugs: Can Causality Assessment Scales Be Utilized to Identify the Offending Drug?

Drug-induced hepatotoxicity most commonly manifests as an acute hepatitis syndrome and remains the leading cause of drug-induced death/mortality and the primary reason for withdrawal of drugs from the pharmaceutical market. We report a case of acute liver injury in a 12-year-old Hispanic boy, who re...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Roxanne Lim, Hassan Choudry, Kim Conner, Wikrom Karnsakul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Pediatrics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/156389
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Summary:Drug-induced hepatotoxicity most commonly manifests as an acute hepatitis syndrome and remains the leading cause of drug-induced death/mortality and the primary reason for withdrawal of drugs from the pharmaceutical market. We report a case of acute liver injury in a 12-year-old Hispanic boy, who received a series of five antibiotics (amoxicillin, ceftriaxone, vancomycin, ampicillin/sulbactam, and clindamycin) for cervical lymphadenitis/retropharyngeal cellulitis. Histopathology of the liver biopsy specimen revealed acute cholestatic hepatitis. All known causes of acute liver injury were appropriately excluded and (only) drug-induced liver injury was left as a cause of his cholestasis. Liver-specific causality assessment scales such as Council for the International Organization of Medical Sciences/Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method scoring system (CIOMS/RUCAM), Maria and Victorino scale, and Digestive Disease Week-Japan were applied to seek the most likely offending drug. Although clindamycin is the most likely cause by clinical diagnosis, none of causality assessment scales aid in the diagnosis.
ISSN:2090-6803
2090-6811