[Cirrhogenic hepatitis due to perhexiline maleate: general review based upon one new case with ultrastructural study (author's transl)].

The authors describe a case of cirrhogenic hepatitis due to Pexid which was given for 8 months at 400 mg/day for a severe angina pectoris. We find here the anatomo-clinical profile of perhexiline maleate hepatiits already described in approximately 20 cases. There was a cirrhogenic evolution in our case as in 5 others : but here cirrhosis was revealing and seems stabilized since the treatment was stopped. The cirrhogenic evolution could be due to a cumulative effect of the drug and/or to an immuno-allergic mechanism as in alcoholic cirrhosis which is very similar, especially from an anatomical point of view. However cirrhogenic hepatitis differs by a characteristic lysosomal overload : brown pigment under microscopic observation and lipolysosomes with in some cases a lamellar structure under electron microscopic observation. The prescription of such a drug should be limited to cases of refractory angina pectoris and needed a regular clinical and biological survey.