We report a case of ticlopidine-induced prolonged cholestasis in a 60-year-
old man with no previous hepatobiliary disease who presented with sudden ri
ght upper abdominal pain, jaundice and pruritus three months after starting
ticlopidine therapy. Other drugs taken by the patient were not considered
probable causes, The diagnostic evaluation showed no biliary obstruction an
d other possible causes of intra-hepatic cholestasis were excluded, The liv
er biopsy showed a cholestatic hepatitis with bile duct damage. The disease
ran a severe and protracted course, but symptoms and jaundice eventually s
ubsided five months after drug withdrawal, More than a year later, relevant
abnormalities of liver function tests consistent with anicteric cholestasi
s still persist, fulfilling criteria for a minor form of drug-induced prolo
nged cholestasis. This syndrome has been reported infrequently in relation
to several drugs, mainly chlorpromazine, and only once with ticlopidine. Eu
r J Gastroenterol Hepatol 11:673-676. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkin
s.