Ng QX, Yong CSK, Loke W, Yeo WS, Soh AYS. Escitalopram-induced liver injury: A case report and review of literature. World J Hepatol 2019; 11(10): 719-724 [PMID: 31749902 DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v11.i10.719]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Qin Xiang Ng, MBBS, Institute of Mental Health, Buangkok Green Medical Park, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore 539747, Singapore. ng.qin.xiang@u.nus.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Wee Song Yeo, Alex Yu Sen Soh, National University Hospital, National University Health System, Singapore 119074, Singapore
Wee Song Yeo, Alex Yu Sen Soh, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Author contributions: Ng QX conceived, designed and carried out the study, and the relevant data analysis and interpretation, while Soh AYS supervised the study; Yong CSK, Loke WR, Soh AYS and Yeo WS carried out the study, and the relevant data analysis and interpretation; All authors contributed to the writing and proofreading of the final manuscript; The final manuscript was discussed and approved by all authors.
Informed consent statement: Written consent was obtained from the patient.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Qin Xiang Ng, MBBS, Institute of Mental Health, Buangkok Green Medical Park, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore 539747, Singapore. ng.qin.xiang@u.nus.edu
Telephone: +65-66386979
Received: July 21, 2019 Peer-review started: July 24, 2019 First decision: August 7, 2019 Revised: August 20, 2019 Accepted: October 2, 2019 Article in press: October 2, 2019 Published online: October 27, 2019 Processing time: 94 Days and 19.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: We herein report a probable case of escitalopram-induced liver injury. A 56-year-old Chinese lady presented with fever and cholestatic liver injury two weeks after initiation of escitalopram for the treatment of psychotic depression. Physical examination and investigations for stones, viral hepatitis and autoimmune liver disease were unyielding. Upon stopping escitalopram, repeat liver function tests showed downtrending liver enzymes with eventual normalization of serum aminotransferase levels. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of drug-induced liver injury associated with escitalopram use, when initiating depressed patients on antidepressant treatment. This requires extra vigilance as most patients may remain asymptomatic.