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. 2017 Sep 6;3(2):317–325. doi: 10.1007/s41030-017-0049-z

Table 2.

Overview of ADRs

Pirfenidone (N = 1620)
ADRs, n (%)
Patients with ≥1 ADR 1051 (64.9)
ADRs with >5% incidence
 Nausea 366 (22.6)
 Fatigue 317 (19.6)
 Diarrhea 182 (11.2)
 Rash 133 (8.2)
 Anorexia 116 (7.2)
 Dyspepsia 112 (6.9)
 Dizziness 99 (6.1)
 Decreased appetite 95 (5.9)
 Gastroesophageal reflux disease 88 (5.4)
ADR resulting in death 0
ADR leading to dose modification or interruption 377 (23.3)
ADR leading to discontinuation of pirfenidone 210 (13.0)
SADRs, n (%)a
Patients with ≥1 SADR 24 (1.5)
SADRs in ≥2 patients
 ALT elevatedb 5 (0.3)
 Hepatic enzyme elevatedc 5 (0.3)
 AST elevatedb 2 (0.1)
 Diarrhea 2 (0.1)
 Nausea 2 (0.1)
SADR resulting in death 0
SADR leading to dose modification or interruption 5 (0.3)
SADR leading to discontinuation of pirfenidone 17 (1.0)

ADR adverse drug reaction, ALT alanine aminotransferase, AST aspartate aminotransferase, LFT liver function test, SADR serious adverse drug reaction, ULN upper limit of normal

aSADR is defined as a serious adverse event deemed to be causally related to pirfenidone

bTwo patients had both elevated ALT and AST levels

cPreferred Term used for events not coded to other Preferred Terms; these included the following investigator-specified verbatim terms: elevated AST and ALT, elevated AST/ALT, elevated LFTs >5 ULN, elevated liver enzymes, high ALT/AST, increased ALT and AST, increased ALT and AST labs, and increased liver enzymes