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Published on: February 4, 2014
Hepatoxicity Induced by Clozapine: Case Report and Brief Review
Joshep Revilla-Zúñiga1, Joise Cornejo-Del Carpio2, Lizardo Cruzado1
1Instituto Nacional de Salud Mental Honorio Delgado-Hideyo Noguchi, Lima, Perú; Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú.
Introduction:
Antipsychotics are drugs that can produce transient elevations of hepatic enzymes. Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic used in treatment-resistant schizophrenia and there is evidence that it can produce elevations of hepatic transaminases, expression of liver damage in a hepatocellular pattern.
Methods:
Case report and non-systematic review of the relevant literature.
Case Presentation:
A 39-year-old woman with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia attended the emergency department of a general hospital for nausea, vomiting and jaundice that appeared after the initiation of clozapine. There was no clinical improvement during hospitalisation, and death occurred after 44 days.
Literature Review:
Clozapine can increase the liver enzyme levels transiently and asymptomatically; however, there are clinical criteria that recommend the withdrawal of the antipsychotic.
Conclusions:
This is the third case reported in the literature of a fatal outcome of clozapine-induced hepatotoxicity.
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