A case of drug-induced liver injury causing cirrhosis in the short term by the treatment of amiodarone

Abstract

The patient was a man in his 70s who had been attending our hospitalʼs Department of Cardiology for an old myocardial infarction; however, in 20XX, a defibrillator was implanted due to cardiac arrest caused by ven-tricular fibrillation, and amiodarone was used to prevent arrhythmia. He was referred to our department 1 year and 8 months after taking amiodarone due to liver damage, and an abdominal simple CT examination showed high absorption of the liver. He was diagnosed with drug-induced liver injury due to amiodarone and was ad-vised to discontinue the drug; however, the drug administration was continued because there was no alterna-tive drug. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis four years and one month after starting amiodarone, and he stopped taking it. He died of liver failure six months later. Because amiodarone-induced drug-induced liver injury can quickly progress to cirrhosis, it is important to monitor blood levels of amiodarone and adjust the dose.