[A rare case of hepatotoxicity in geriatrics]. / Un cas rare d'hépatotoxicité en gériatrie.

We report a case of hepatotoxicity following the introduction of two drugs to treat a 81 years old man. The presence of liver alterations following the introduction of a new drug must suggest an adverse drug reaction. Manifestations of adverse drug reactions are often non-specific. Thus, the most important problem in assessing adverse drug reactions is establishing whether there is a causal association between the suspected drug and the untoward clinical event. The use of the Naranjo score could help the clinician to assess the probability of a causal relationship between a drug and the suspected adverse drug reaction.

Nous présentons le cas d'un patient de 81 ans qui développe une hépatotoxité après l'introduction de deux médicaments dans son traitement. La présence d'une perturbation du bilan hépatique à l'introduction d'un nouveau médicament doit faire évoquer une hépatotoxicité médicamenteuse. Les manifestations des effets secondaires médicamenteux ne sont généralement pas spécifiques. Dans ce contexte, le problème le plus important pour le clinicien est d'établir la probabilité d'une relation causale entre l'effet et le médicament suspecté. Le calcul du score de Naranjo permet d'aider le clinicien dans l'évaluation de la probabilité d'une relation causale entre un médicament et la suspicion de l'apparition d'un effet secondaire.

The effects of midodrine on the natriuretic response to furosemide in cirrhotics with ascites.

BACKGROUND: Resistance to loop diuretics is common in patients with ascites. Diminished glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is thought to mediate resistance to loop diuretics. Midodrine, a commonly used alpha-1 agonist, has been shown to improve GFR in non-azotemic patients with cirrhosis. AIM: To conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study to test the hypothesis that midodrine significantly increases natriuretic response of IV furosemide in non-azotemic cirrhotics with ascites. METHODS: All subjects participated in both phases, which were (i) furosemide IV infusion + oral midodrine 15 mg administered 30 min before furosemide (ii) furosemide IV infusion + oral placebo administered 30 min before furosemide. Primary outcomes were 6-h urine sodium excretion and 6-h total urine volume. RESULTS: A total of 15 patients (men: 8; age: 52.7 ± 7.6 years; serum creatinine: 1.06 ± 0.2 mg/dL) were studied. Total 6-h urine sodium excretion was 109 ± 42 mmol in the furosemide + midodrine treatment phase and was not significantly different from that in the furosemide + placebo treatment phase (126 ± 69 mmol, P = 0.6). Similarly, mean 6-h total urine volume was not significantly different between two groups (1770 ± 262 mL vs. 1962 ± 170 mL, P = 0.25). CONCLUSIONS: Oral midodrine does not increase the natriuretic response to furosemide in non-azotemic cirrhotic patients with ascites. Orally administered midodrine does not increase natriuretic response to furosemide in non-azotemic cirrhotic patients with ascites.