Hepatoxicity induced by clozapine: Case report and brief review.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Antipsychotics are drugs that can produce transient elevations of hepatic enzymes. Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic used in treatment-resistant schizophrenia and there is evidence that it can produce elevations of hepatic transaminases, expression of liver damage in a hepatocellular pattern. METHODS: Case report and non-systematic review of the relevant literature. CASE PRESENTATION A 39-year-old woman with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia attended the emergency department of a general hospital for nausea, vomiting and jaundice that appeared after the initiation of clozapine. There was no clinical improvement during hospitalisation, and death occurred after 44 days. LITERATURE REVIEW Clozapine can increase the liver enzyme levels transiently and asymptomatically; however, there are clinical criteria that recommend the withdrawal of the antipsychotic. CONCLUSIONS: This is the third case reported in the literature of a fatal outcome of clozapine-induced hepatotoxicity.