1. Severe cholestasis due to azathioprine in Behcet’s disease
- Author
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Bulent Kantarceken, Hamide Sayar, Kadir Gisi, and Murat Ispiroglu
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Vomiting ,Constitutional symptoms ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Jaundice ,Azathioprine ,Disease ,Behcet's disease ,030226 pharmacology & pharmacy ,Gastroenterology ,Uveitis ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Cholestasis ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,heterocyclic compounds ,neoplasms ,Unexpected Outcome (Positive or Negative) Including Adverse Drug Reactions ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Behcet Syndrome ,Pruritus ,Nausea ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,stomatognathic diseases ,Treatment Outcome ,Immunosuppressive drug ,Liver ,Liver biopsy ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ,business ,Immunosuppressive Agents ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Azathioprine (AZA) is an immunosuppressive drug that is widely used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Although AZA is used widely, many studies reported that AZA-related hepatotoxicity is rather rare. We aimed to present a case with severe cholestatic hepatitis due to AZA use for Behcet’s disease. Three weeks after starting AZA for the treatment of uveitis, the patient was admitted to our clinic with cholestasis and constitutional symptoms. In liver biopsy, findings were in accordance with drug reaction, and the AZA treatment was stopped. After 2 months, bilirubin levels and liver tests results became normal. As a result, given that AZA may cause severe cholestasis, the drug should be stopped if idiosyncrasy or hypersensitivity develops. If there is a debate in the diagnosis, histopathological evaluation of the liver would be the major issue because of the correct diagnosis of the drug toxicity and excluding other aetiologies.
- Published
- 2019