Reactions 691 - 7 Mar 1998

★Riluzole

First report of hepatitis in an elderly patient: casereport

Hepatitis occurred in a 72-year-old woman during treatmentwith riluzole for bulbar-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

When the woman started treatment with riluzole 100mg/day, her liver function tests were normal. However, after 6months, she was hospitalised with jaundice of 1 weeks’duration. Her bilirubin, AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase levels were 263 µmol/L, 483 IU/L,1026 IU/L and 356 IU/L and 90 IU/L, respectively. Riluzole wasdiscontinued. After 2 weeks, her bilirubin, AST, ALT, alkalinephosphatase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase levels haddecreased to 85 µmol/L, 154 IU/L, 305 IU/L, 285 IU/L and 70IU/L, respectively, and she was discharged. At follow-up after 2months, her liver function tests had normalised.

Author comment: ‘Treatment with riluzole has beenassociated with increases in serum aminotransferases in a smallproportion of patients. These increases are usually small andtransient and, to our knowledge, no cases or icteric toxichepatitis associated with riluzole have been reported.’Castells L, et al. Icteric toxic hepatitis associated with riluzole. Lancet 351: 648,28 Feb 1998 - Spain 800645371

1

Reactions 7 Mar 1998 No. 6910114-9954/10/0691-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved