APLASTIC ANEMIA FOLLOWING PROLONGED ADMINISTRATION OF CHLORAMPHENICOL

Abstract

Following prolonged administration of chloramphenicol, two cases of aplastic anemia, one of which ended fatally, were encountered. In a study to be reported elsewhere by one of us (M. S. H.), on the effects of chloramphenicol in the bacteriostatic control of chronic bronchopulmonary suppuration, 62 patients, ranging in age from 1 year to 72 years, were given the drug over periods of from 1 month to 14 months. Dosages of 1 gm., two to three times weekly and, in a few instances, daily, were administered after an initial period of more intensive antibiotic therapy, which included penicillin and/ or streptomycin. Thus, in a controlled series, 2 of 62 patients receiving the drug for long periods had severe hematological complications. In the two cases of aplastic anemia to be reported, the first of which ended fatally, the drug was given for approximately seven months and five and one-half months, respectively. REPORT