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Case Reports
. 2014 Aug;29(8):1170-3.
doi: 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.8.1170. Epub 2014 Jul 30.

Acute pancreatitis induced by methimazole treatment in a 51-year-old korean man: a case report

Jung Hwa Jung  1 , Jong Ryeal Hahm  1 , Jaehoon Jung  1 , Soo Kyoung Kim  1 , Sungsu Kim  2 , Kyong Young Kim  2 , Bo Ra Kim  2 , Hong Jun Kim  1 , Yi Yeong Jeong  1 , Sun Joo Kim  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Acute pancreatitis induced by methimazole treatment in a 51-year-old korean man: a case report

Jung Hwa Jung et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

Methimazole (MMI)-induced acute pancreatitis is very rare but severe adverse reaction. A 51-yr-old male developed a high fever, chills, and abdominal pain, two weeks after commencement on MMI for the treatment of Graves' disease. There was no evidence of agranulocytosis, and fever subsided soon after stopping MMI treatment. However, 5 hr after taking an additional dose of MMI, abdominal pain and fever developed again. His symptoms, biochemical, and imaging studies were compatible with acute pancreatitis. After withdrawal of MMI, he showed clinical improvement. This is the first case of MMI-induced acute pancreatitis in Korea. Clinicians should be aware of the rare but possible MMI-induced pancreatitis in patients complaining of fever and abdominal pain.

Keywords: Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Graves Disease; Methimazole; Pancreatitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that no competing financial interests exist.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Abdominal computed tomography and ultrasound. (A) Abdominal CT scan showed a swollen pancreas with peripancreatic inflammatory fat stranding, suggestive of acute pancreatitis. (B) Abdominal ultrasound showed no evidence of cholelithiasis and biliary duct dilatation.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Clinical course and pancreatic enzyme levels after taking MMI. The right axis shows the levels of pancreatic enzymes, and the left axis shows body temperature. MMI, methimazole; BT, body temperature.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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