Hepatitis associated with propylthiouracil treatment.

A 12-year-old girl with hyperthyroidism who had started treatment with propylthiouracil (PTU) 100 mg tid developed hepatitis. The drug was stopped, and the clinical and laboratory findings of hepatitis disappeared within a week. She was not receiving other drugs that could cause hepatic damage, and investigations for various viral agents were negative. This is the ninth report of PTU-induced hepatitis. The clinical picture is similar to that of viral hepatitis. Recovery usually occurs after withdrawal of the drug, but there have been two fatal cases of PTU-induced hepatitis.