Hydralazine-Induced Fulminant Liver Failure Requiring Urgent Liver Transplant: Common Drug With Rare Complication.

ABSTRACT

Drug-induced liver injury resulting in fulminant liver failure is a well-known condition, and many drugs have been documented in the literature as possible etiologies. However, hydralazine has seldom been reported as the offending agent. Our case report is about one such rare scenario of fulminant liver failure due to hydralazine use as an antihypertensive. A 65-year-old female patient presented with signs of fulminant liver failure 2 months after starting hydralazine for hypertension. She underwent extensive workup for the cause of acute liver failure. Other possible medications were ruled out, and workup for autoimmune and other etiologies were also negative. The patient underwent a deceased donor liver transplant and has been doing well since then. Her liver was found to be atrophic, with microscopically confirmed drug-induced liver injury. Hydralazine is used orally to treat essential hypertension and intravenously to emergently lower blood pressure. Hydralazineinduced acute liver failure is extremely rare. However, in this rare case where hydralazine-related drug-induced liver injury worsened to the extent of requiring liver transplant, we felt obliged to document and highlight this complication as a form of reminder to our colleagues of this serious outcome.