[Cholestatic hepatitis ascribed to the use of thiabendazole]

Two women, aged 27 and 42 years, both born in Surinam and both suffering from heterozygous thalassemia, developed cholestatic hepatitis three and two weeks respectively after the start of a two-day course of thiabendazol for Strongyloides stercoralis infection. Other causes of cholestasis were unlikely in view of the results of blood tests, echography and the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography. The symptoms persisted for several months, and the liver function disorders for 7 years and one year, respectively. The incidence of thiabendazole-induced cholestatic hepatitis is unknown, but probably low.