Prolonged cholestasis and ductopenia associated with tenoxicam

J Hepatol. 2003 Jul;39(1):125-8. doi: 10.1016/s0168-8278(03)00081-3.

Abstract

Cholestatic liver diseases leading to progressive destruction of intra-hepatic bile ducts and ductopenia encompass multiple etiologies. Pathophysiology and natural history of drug-induced cholangiopathies remain unclear. We report a case of prolonged ductopenia attributed to Tenoxicam (Tilcotil o--a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug of the oxicam family) ingested at therapeutic dose. A 36 year-old male patient was admitted for jaundice and Lyell syndrome starting 1 week after the ingestion of Tenoxicam. Liver biopsy showed cholestasis, non-suppurative cholangitis and polymorphous inflammatory infiltrate of the portal tracts (round cells, macrophages an eosinophils). Treatment with ursodesoxycholic acid and cholestyramine was instituted and the patient was asymptomatic 1 year after. Three years later mild biological cholestasis persisted and ductopenia was evidenced on liver biopsy. In this report we found that: (1) The toxicity of tenoxicam was probably mediated by an immunoallergic mechanism (Lyell syndrome and eosinophils on histology); (2) ductopenia was secondary to inflammatory cholangitis. Factors responsible for this chronic evolution are still unknown (genetic predisposition, vascular factors, etc.); and (3) the presence of ductopenia contrasted with the "clinical recovery" of the disease suggesting accessory bile drainage by cholangioles or partial reconstruction of the biliary tree.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / adverse effects*
  • Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic / pathology*
  • Biopsy
  • Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / chemically induced*
  • Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / chemically induced
  • Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / pathology
  • Male
  • Piroxicam / adverse effects*
  • Piroxicam / analogs & derivatives*

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • Piroxicam
  • tenoxicam