Hepatotoxicity associated with statin use: analysis of the cases included in the Spanish Hepatotoxicity Registry

OBJECTIVES

The hepatotoxic potential of statins is controversial. The objectives of this study were to describe the relative frequency of hepatotoxicity caused by statins and the phenotypes found in Spain.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The incidence of hepatotoxicity attributed to statins in the Spanish Hepatotoxicity Registry (REH) were studied and compared with those attributed to other drugs.

RESULTS

Between April 1994 and August 2012, the REH included a total of 858 cases of which 47 (5.5 %) were attributed to statins. Of these, 16 were due to atorvastatin (34 %); 13 to simvastatin (27.7 %); 12 to fluvastatin (25.5 %); 4 to lovastatin (8.5 %) and 2 to pravastatin (4.3 %). Statins represented approximately half of the cardiovascular group which occupied 3rd place (10 %), after anti-infectious agents (37 %) and central nervous system drugs (14 %). The hepatocellular pattern was predominant, especially in the simvastatin group (85%), the cholestatic/mixed pattern was more frequent with fluvastatin (66 %) and had a similar distribution to atorvastatin. Patients with statin-induced toxicity were older (62 years versus 53 years, p < 0.001) and more often demonstrated anautoimmune hepatitis phenotype (8.5 % versus 1.4 %, p < 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS

Statins are not a common cause of hepatotoxicity in Spain. Atorvastatin is the statin involved in the greatest number of incidents. The liver injury pattern varies among the different statins. The hepatitis phenotype with autoimmune features appears to be a characteristic signature of statin-induced hepatotoxicity.

Recurrent drug-induced liver injury (DILI) with different drugs in the Spanish Registry: the dilemma of the relationship to autoimmune hepatitis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Multiple instances of DILI in the same patient with drugs of similar structure or function as well as completely unrelated drugs are not well understood and poorly documented. We have sought evidence of the frequency and characteristics of patients who have experienced two DILI episodes due to different drugs.

METHODS

All cases of DILI systematically collected in the Spanish DILI Registry between 1994 and 2009 were retrieved. Data on demographics, clinical, laboratory and pathological findings, and outcome were analyzed.

RESULTS

Nine patients (mean age 67 years, four women) out of 742, 1.21%, had evidence of two DILI episodes caused by different drugs. In four cases DILI was associated with structurally related drugs and in an additional two cases the drugs had a common target. In another case, unrelated antibiotics were implicated. In only two cases, the two drugs/herbals were not related in structure or function. All but one patient exhibited hepatocellular damage. The type of damage was consistent in both DILI episodes. Four cases presented as autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in the second episode.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple episodes of DILI in association with different drugs occur infrequently. In each individual, the type of injury was similar during the two DILI episodes, regardless of the causative drug. Second episodes of DILI are more likely to be associated with features of AIH. It remains uncertain if this is drug-induced unmasking of true AIH or DILI with autoimmune features. These cases illustrate the dilemma faced by clinicians in distinguishing these possibilities.

Double-balloon enteroscopy: a descriptive study of 50 explorations

AIM

To evaluate the utility of double-balloon enteroscopy for small-bowel disease.

DESIGN

A prospective study of 50 consecutive enteroscopies performed from December 2004 to July 2005 to analyze diagnoses and treatments.

PATIENTS

44 patients (33 had undergone a previous capsule endoscopy) with indications for obscure digestive hemorrhage, angiodysplasia, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, ulcer, suspected Crohn's disease, tumors, and refractory celiac disease.

RESULTS

We carried out enteroscopy studies in 44 patients by the oral route and, in 6 additional patients, by both the oral and anal routes. We reached the ileon with the oral route in all cases but one (jejunal stenosis), and in 4 cases out of 7 with the anal route, with an average duration of 73 minutes. We found angiodysplasia in 19 cases, as well as NSAID-related enteropathy, Crohn's disease, diverticulosis, and Waldenström's disease. We performed biopsies in 31% of cases with diagnoses of adenocarcinoma, lymphangiectasia secondary to tumor in celiac disease, and Whipple's disease. We treated 19 patients with angiodysplasia (1 to 20 synchronous lesions) with argon, and 4 patients with polyps using polipectomy (sporadic polyps or Peutz-Jeghers syndrome). A retained capsule in one patient with stenosis was removed.

CONCLUSIONS

Double-balloon enteroscopy is a useful and effective technique in the diagnosis and treatment of small intestine diseases, thus complementing capsule endoscopy. More studies are needed to analyze its impact on the management of this condition.

A shortened, 2-hour rifampin test: a useful tool in Gilbert's syndrome

INTRODUCTION

Diagnosis of Gilbert's disease often involves unnecessary testing and patient anxiety. Rifampin test can support the diagnosis; it has been described in short series and lacks standardization in dose, collection times, result presentation and interpretation. Our objective was to compare the response to oral rifampin in a series of patients with Gilbert's disease, 2 and 4 h after drug administration.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Eighty-nine patients with Gilbert's disease (elevated total bilirubin with no hepatopathy or hemolysis) were recruited. After a basal blood collection, 900 mg rifampin were administered per os and new samples were drawn 2 and 4 h later. Total and esterified bilirubin were measured in every sample. Haptoglobin concentration was also analyzed.

RESULTS

When expressed as relative increase with respect to basal values, variations observed 2 h after rifampin intake were all above 15%. A significant correlation (r = 0.902; p = 0.000) was found between relative increases 2 and 4 h after drug administration. No significant variations were found in haptoglobin concentrations.

CONCLUSION

Rifampin test is useful in diagnosing Gilbert's disease, but variations in total bilirubin concentrations (basal and post-rifampin) make that no absolute cut-off value can be used. Correlation between 2- and 4-h relative increases suggests that a shortened version could simplify the test.

[Gastrointestinal alterations in a female patient with common variable immunodeficiency]

We present the case of a 33-year-old woman who complained of intermittent diarrhea over the previous 8 years and who was diagnosed with common variable immunodeficiency. The woman presented antral atrophic gastritis, partial atrophy of the duodenal villi, nodular lymphoid hyperplasia of the small intestine and lymphocytic colitis. We also review the literature.

[Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and ulcerative colitis]

Hypercoagulability is a extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease, which could provoke thromboembolic phenomena. Central nervous system venous thrombosis is a rare complication and could be unnoticed. We report on a patient with ulcerative colitis who presented cerebral venous sinus thrombosis as the first manifestation of a hypercoagulable state. We review the literature and discuss about the pathogenic mechanisms of such complication.

[Delayed intestinal obstruction due to a seatbelt]

During blunt abdominal trauma the small bowel and/or its mesentery may be injured; if abdominal trauma occurs after compression by an incorrectly-applied seat belt, underlying viscera may be crushed between the vertebral and the seat belt; ischemia or infarction of the intestinal wall, and delayed fibrosis and stenosis may occur. We present a patient, operated on two months after blunt abdominal trauma, with small bowel obstruction secondary to post-traumatic intestinal fibrosis. Assuming that this condition is rarely suspected, a delayed diagnosis and treatment of these patients may occur.

[Hyperprolactinemia associated with acute intermittent porphyria]

Galactorrhea as the result of hyperprolactinemia has been described in very rare cases associated to acute outbreaks of intermittent acute porphyria (IAP). In our country, any of such cases have been published or analytically documented. We present the case of a patient admitted in our hospital for the study of abdominal pain and galactorrhea, with latter diagnosis of IAP, supported by the assessment of the activity of the enzyme showing a deficit in the red blood cells.

Addisonian crisis as the presenting feature of bilateral primary adrenal lymphoma

The authors report a patient with a primary lymphoma of the adrenal glands presenting as acute adrenal failure. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the adrenal glands revealed a non-Hodgkin lymphoma of predominantly small cleaved cells and a low degree of malignancy. The absence of abnormal findings in clinical, bone marrow, and computed tomography scan examinations supports the diagnosis of primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the adrenal glands. Chemotherapy produced a complete functional recovery, and tumoral masses disappeared after the first three cycles of treatment.