2013, Volume 6, Issue 3, pp 327 – 331

Antithyroid drugs induced agranulocytosis and multiple myeloma: case report and general considerations

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Authors and Affiliations

Correspondence to:Raluca Trifănescu, MD, Department of Endocrinology, “Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “C. I. Parhon" National Institute of Endocrinology, 34–36 Aviatorilor Avenue, 011863 Bucharest, Romania, Phone +40745048692, E-mail: ralucatrifanescu@yahoo.com

Abstract

Antithyroid drugs as thionamides are largely used in the treatment of the thyrotoxicosis. Side effects were reported in less than 10% of the cases, especially hematological, hepatic or skin allergies. One of the most severe manifestations is agranulocytosis, probably based on an immune mechanism that is exacerbated by the presence of the thyroid autoimmune disease itself. If the presence of the severe leucopenia is actually an epiphenomenon of a preexisting hematological disturbance as multiple myeloma is debated. The myeloma may also be correlated with an autoimmune predisposition. We present the case of a 56 years old female patient diagnosed with Graves’ disease, who developed agranulocytosis after 8 months of therapy with thiamazole. Two months after antithyroid drug’s withdrawal, the granulocytes number increased and she received therapy with radioiodine. Two years later she came back for diffuse bone pain that turned out to be caused by a multiple myeloma, confirmed by bone marrow biopsy. It might be a connection between the severe form of leucopenia that the patient developed and the medullar malignancy.

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About this article

PMC ID: 3806032
PubMed ID: 24155785
DOI: 

Article Publishing Date (print): 15-09-2013
Available Online: 25-09-2013

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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