Unusual Recurrence of Antituberculosis Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Children: A Case Series

Case series Patients: Male, 4-year-old • Female, 18-month-old • Male, 2-year-and-6-month-old • Female, 13-year-old • Female, 8-year-old • Male, 7-year-old Final Diagnosis: Recurrent ADIH Symptoms: Nausea • vomiting • yellowish skin Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Liver function test examination Specialty: Infectious Diseases • Pulmonology OBJECTIVE: Unusual or unexpected effect of treatment BACKGROUND: Antituberculosis drug-induced hepatotoxicity (ADIH) is a possible adverse event of antitubercular treatment. There are still no official guidelines for ADIH management in children. Recurrent ADIH is infrequently reported. CASE REPORTS: In this article, we report 6 unusual cases of recurrent ADIH in children. Five children developed ADIH during the intensive phase. Streptomycin and ethambutol were given to those with tuberculosis meningitis, urinary tract tuberculosis, and one patient with pulmonary tuberculosis with HIV infection and cardiac comorbidities. Five patients experienced a second ADIH episode after reintroduction. One patient developed ADIH symptoms again before reaching a full dose of isoniazid. The patient with pulmonary tuberculosis, HIV infection, and dilated cardiomyopathy experienced secondary episodes of ADIH and received levofloxacin and ethambutol as additional drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent ADIH is relatively uncommon in children but may be encountered in daily practice. Reintroduction of previous treatment regimens should be tailored individually. There is an urgent need for standardized guidelines for ADIH in children.