Captopril-associated cholestatic jaundice

Captopril, the competitive inhibitor of angiotensin-converting enzyme, is of considerable benefit in difficult-to-manage forms of hypertension. Its use has been associated with various untoward effects, but hepatic injury has not been widely reported. We treated a patient with captopril-associated cholestatic jaundice; a review of cases reported to the drug manufacturer and a review of the literature showed 13 additional cases of hepatic injury associated with captopril. In 9 of these the jaundice was categorized as cholestatic, and in 4 of the remaining 5 as mixed cholestatic-hepatocellular. These findings show that jaundice may be an idiosyncratic side effect of captopril, and that captopril-associated jaundice characteristically has strongly cholestatic features.