Be Careful, Mom and Doc: Hepatotoxicity Associated with Prescribed Medications in Young Infants

Abstract

Accidental poisonings in young infants are relatively uncommon, and the careless caregiver is usually the culprit. We report two cases of hepatotoxicity due to prescribed medications. An infant was given 15 mL instead of 1.5 mL of paracetamol by his mother because she omitted the decimal point on the label of the drug bottle. The infant became symptomatic, and liver enzyme and clotting profile were abnormal, necessitating treatment with N-acetyl cysteine. Another infant was prescribed oral ketoconazole for thrush, resulting in elevation of liver enzymes. The serum alanine aminotransferase levels were transiently elevated but returned to normal, and both infants recovered uneventfully. This report serves to alert the doctor to avoid using decimal points in drug labeling and to avoid prescribing excessive amount of drug for trivial acute illness. Thrush in infancy is common and usually treated with oral nystatin. Other oral antifungals such as ketoconazole may be associated with liver derangement and should be avoided in infants.