Hodgkin's lymphoma-related vanishing bile duct syndrome: a case report and literature review

We report the case of a 38-year-old man who developed vanishing bile duct syndrome in association with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was noted to have cervical lymphadenopathy and marked elevation of total serum bilirubin at diagnosis. He achieved complete remission with normalization of serum bilirubin after eight courses of Adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine chemotherapy followed with autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation. Consecutive liver biopsies performed at diagnosis and at the stage of complete remission revealed the disappearance and regeneration of interlobular bile ducts, respectively. Our case provides pathological evidence that Hodgkin's lymphoma-related vanishing bile duct syndrome is a reversible bile duct injury disease. Bilirubin is a reliable serum marker to monitor the treatment response of these cases. The mechanism to develop hyperbilirubinemia with vanishing bile duct in such a case of Hodgkin's lymphoma remains to be studied. A literature review was carried out.