Abstract
Purpose: Cytarabine is considered the standard of care for induction therapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are preparing for bone marrow transplant. Summary: We report a case of a 72-year-old female presenting to the intensive care unit with hepatic failure after high-dose cytarabine (HiDAC) for the treatment of relapsed AML. The patient’s liver function tests (LFTs) were elevated acutely, with a mildly elevated bilirubin and a normal alkaline phosphatase. HiDAC was discontinued but her LFTs remained high for 9 days post discontinuation, and the patient eventually expired due to sepsis and multiple organ failure. We estimated the probability of the hepatotoxicity observed with HiDAC as probable based on a score of 5 on the Naranjo scale. Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the potential hepatotoxicity associated with HiDAC for patients with AML, specifically in the elderly population.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 160-164 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Hospital Pharmacy |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2018.
Keywords
- cytarabine
- hepatotoxicity
- liver failure
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmacy
- Pharmacology
- Pharmacology (medical)