DOI: 10.36347/sjmcr.2015.v03i01.012

Pages: 33-35

Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. It has a small number of legitimate medical applications. Historically, it was useful as a topical anesthetic in eye and nasal surgery, although it is now predominantly used for nasal and lacrimal duct surgery. From numerous studies it is known that it causes irreversible structural changes on the brain, heart and other organs such as lungs and kidneys. Cocaine-induced acute liver injury has been described in animal models, although few cases have been reported in humans. Most of the direct hepatotoxic effects are mediated by oxidative stress and by mitochondrial dysfunction produced during the metabolism of noradrenaline or during the metabolism of norcocaina. We describe here the case of a 33-year-old man who developed acute liver injury after cocaine use. He presented to the emergency room with worsening abdominal pain and fatigue requiring hospitalization. Confounding liver insults included a history of untreated chronic hepatitis C and heavy alcohol use.