Generalized peliosis hepatis and cirrhosis after long-term use of oral contraceptives.

Abstract

Peliosis hepatis, a condition characterized by the presence of blood-filled lacunar spaces in the liver, has been described primarily in patients on androgenic steroid medication and patients with tuberculosis. It has never been reported as a complication of the use of oral contraceptives, except in association with and localized in contraceptive-induced hepatic tumors. The present report concerns a 43-yr-old woman with generalized peliosis hepatis that developed during long-term use of oral contraceptives. Extensive examination did not reveal a hepatic tumor. Liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension developed, although the oral contraceptives had been withdrawn. She finally underwent successfully an orthotopic liver transplantation.