Case Report
Hepatitis following famotidine: a case report
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* Corresponding author: Nishant Gupta ngupta19@aol.com
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tennessee, College of Medicine, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA
Cases Journal 2009, 2:89 doi:10.1186/1757-1626-2-89
Published: 27 January 2009Abstract
H2 receptor antagonists can rarely cause idiosyncratic drug reactions leading to acute hepatitis. Famotidine, however, is considered a relatively safe drug with regards to hepatotoxicity. We report a case of a 47 year old male with a history of hepatitis C who developed acute hepatitis on the third day of hospitalization with a dramatic rise in his liver enzymes from normal values at the time of admission. The acute rise in liver enzymes made us consider an adverse drug reaction and famotidine was discontinued. Subsequently his liver enzymes came back to normal in seven days. Thus, physicians should consider famotidine induced hepatitis as a possible etiology of acute liver dysfunction.