Abstract

PIP: A case is described wherein a 29 year old woman was admitted to the hospital because of the possibility of a hepatic tumor; symptoms included abdominal pain, diffuse hepatic enlargement and absence of uptake in an area of the right hepatic lobe. After a normal pregnancy and delivery 11 years earlier the patient used oral contraceptives (OCs) composed of norethindrone with mestranol until 8 years before entry; 5 years before admission she resumed use of an OC containing norethindrone and ethinyl estradiol. She smoked 1.5 packages of cigarettes and drank 1 glass of wine daily, and there was no history of nausea, vomiting, melena, jaundice, dark urine, light stools, hepatitis, or blood transfusions. Benign lesions which are known to be caused by OCs fall into 2 groups: designated focal nodular hyperplasia and liver-cell adenoma. The evidence linking the latter with OCs is more convincing since in case-controlled studies the risk of development of adenomas has been shown to increase with the estrogen strength of the OCs and duration of use; in women who have been taking OCs over 7 years the relative risk is 500 times that for matched control nonusers. The vascular complications of OC therapy include Budd-Chiari syndrome, peliosis hepatis, and periportal sinusoidal dilatation. The patient in this case was diagnosed to have periportal and midzonal hepatic sinusoidal dilatation association with OC medication. She underwent an operation on her liver which proved to be successful combined with cessation of OC use. The mechanism by which OCs cause these lesions is not known. In 5 of 13 cases similar to the one described here clinical and biochemical abnormalities resolved and 1 patient had a follow-up liver biopsy that revealed normal findings 10 months after cessation of OC therapy; there is no evidence to suggest that sinusoidal dilatation is irreversible.