BACKGROUND Clozapine is effective in treating patients with schizophrenia who do not respond to conventional neuroleptic drugs. The drug is unique in that it is available only with a US Food and Drug Administration-mandated system for weekly monitoring of patients' white blood cell counts. No study has been conducted to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this mandatory monitoring system. METH...

A 10-year-old girl with steroid-resistant Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) developed agranulocytosis 9 weeks after chelation with deferiprone was initiated (45 mg/kg daily, 60% of recommended dose) in addition to her ordinary deferoxamine therapy. The blood counts, checked weekly, dropped markedly between weeks 8 and 9. She rapidly developed a septicemia and was admitted with high fever (40.9 degr...

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature concerning idiosyncratic drug-induced agranulocytosis, a rare but life-threatening potential adverse event of most drugs. DATA SOURCES: Articles were identified through searches of MEDLINE (January 1966 to March 2005). Unpublished data from our cohort of drug-induced agranulocytosis in the University Hospital of Strasbourg, France were also considered. DATA E...