Edoxaban-Induced Vanishing Bile Duct Syndrome: A Case Report With Review of the Literature
Research article published in Cureus (2024)
Abstract
Edoxaban is an oral, highly selective, direct factor X-inhibitor approved by the European Medical Agency for the prevention of stroke in non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Edoxaban is contraindicated in patients with severe hepatic insufficiency and, among adverse effects, serum bilirubin level and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase elevation are described as common events. We report the case of an 82-year-old man with hepatocellular carcinoma who developed a fatal vanishing bile duct syndrome (VBDS) a few weeks after the administration of edoxaban for non-valvular atrial fibrillation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe a case of acute VBDS possibly related to edoxaban.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
Peer-reviewed pharmacology and drug-development research relevant to anticoagulants and leech-derived compounds. Indexed in PubMed and verified against the NCBI record.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This case report describes an 82-year-old man with hepatocellular carcinoma who developed fatal vanishing bile duct syndrome a few weeks after starting edoxaban (a direct factor X inhibitor) for non-valvular atrial fibrillation, which the authors state is, to their knowledge, the first reported case of acute VBDS possibly related to edoxaban. For ASH it is relevant only as a reminder that the conventional anticoagulants occupying the same therapeutic niche as leech-derived anticoagulant peptides carry their own serious, sometimes idiosyncratic harms, useful background for the comparative drug-discovery picture but not direct leech evidence. The caveats are emphatic: this is a single case report (the weakest evidence tier), the authors themselves describe the link only as possible rather than established causation, and the study has nothing to do with medicinal leeches or hirudotherapy.
Citation
Edoxaban-Induced Vanishing Bile Duct Syndrome: A Case Report With Review of the Literature.
Borgonovo et al. · Cureus, 2024
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