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Published on: September 11, 2012
Increased Risk of Liver Cirrhosis during Azathioprine Therapy for Crohn's Disease
Jenny Roselli1, Tommaso Innocenti1, Erica Nicola Lynch1
1Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences "Mario Serio", University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Abstract:
Azathioprine is a cornerstone of the therapy of Crohn's disease. Unfortunately, infections and malignancies are relatively common adverse effects related to this drug; however, cirrhosis is exceptionally reported as a side effect. We report the case of a 49-year-old male patient with ileocolonic steno-penetrating Crohn's disease who developed hepatic cirrhosis while treated with azathioprine. After taking azathioprine for 3 years with regular follow-up, he developed pancytopenia, and liver cirrhosis was diagnosed with ultrasound, abdomen computed tomography scan, transient elastography, and liver biopsy. As all other causes of liver damage were excluded, azathioprine was believed to be the cause of liver injury and therefore was interrupted.
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