Spontaneous liver hematomas induced by anti-coagulation therapy. A case report and review of the literature.

We report on a case of massive bleeding into the liver parenchyma during treatment with a combination of warfarin sodium and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. A fifty-five-year-old woman was put on long-term anticoagulant therapy with warfarin sodium. Two years later a course of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was given to treat bronchitis. Following a bout of severe epigastric pain, ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) then showed an enlarged liver containing several large hematomas. Subsequent CT scans, after tentative treatment only, showed regression of the liver hematomas, with almost complete disappearance after eight months. Bleeding complications and drug interactions related to this case are discussed, together with a review of the only six previous reports in the world literature of liver hematomas following anticoagulant therapy. Also mentioned are five patients in whom thrombolytic therapy gave rise to the same adverse reaction.