Mária Szántová
Drug-induced hepatotoxicity (DILI) indicates the toxicity caused by the action of the drug. Due to a growing proportion
of drugs, the incidence of DILI has been increasing in recent years. Today, DILI represents almost 5% of liver diseases
and is a leading cause of acute liver failure both in Europe and the USA with more than 80% mortality without the possibility
of using a liver transplant. A large part of DILI remains undiagnosed and unrecognised. Up to one third of drug
toxicity resulting in necessary withdrawing a medical product from the market is of hepatobiliary aetiology. This paper
gives an overview of the current epidemiological data, key risk factors, aetiopathogenesis, and a current diagnostic
and differential-diagnostic approach. In patients aged over 50 years, DILI is the most common cause of hepatitis with
a 10% risk of death. Female gender, overweight, obesity and excessive alcohol consumption are the most serious risk
factors for DILI. Updated RUCAM classification is the most accepted diagnostic approach. The creation of a national or
transnational DILI network would help significantly improve prognostic outlooks and increase the level of knowledge
of DILI, which is considerably underdiagnosed.