Hepatonecrosis resulting from parenteral gold therapy in pemphigus vulgaris

A patient who had pemphigus vulgaris received therapy with gold thiomalate in addition to dexamethasone. Three weeks after the initiation of parenteral gold the patient developed acute hepatitis. Causes other than gold toxicity were ruled out, and the patient recovered completely after discontinuation of gold therapy. This is the first case of acute hepatonecrosis resulting from gold therapy of pemphigus to be reported in the dermatologic literature.