Hepatotoxicity detected in a fourth-level hospital at the city of Medellín

Abstract

The liver is the main first-step organ involved in the metabolism of most medications. Therefore it is vulnerable to drug toxicity in some cases, due to direct toxic action and/or to idiosyncratic factors. The diagnosis is usually difficult; therefore there are some scales whose purpose is to assess hepatic damage induced by drugs. The objective of our study is to describe the clinical, biochemical and epidemiological characteristics of cases of hepatotoxicity documented in the case histories of patients evaluated by the hepatology unit of a fourth-level hospital in the city of Medellin, Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe (HPTU), between January 2001 and January 2008.

A statistical analysis is presented of 42 cases of liver toxicity ascribed to drugs such as antibiotics, immunosuppressants, antiepileptics, and analgesics, among others. All were evaluated using the scale of hepatic damage induced by medications, and they had outcomes like acute hepatitis, hepatic failure, transplant, etc.