TY - JOUR
T1 - Acute antibiotically induced neutropenia
T2 - A systematic review of case reports
AU - Holz, Julian M.
AU - Chevtchenko, Alon V.
AU - Aitullina, Aleksandra
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Andris Avotins (Andris Avotiņš), Riga Stradins University, Statistics Unit, for consultation on the statistics analysis in this meta-analyis; and to Maximilian Enders for language consultation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 British Pharmacological Society.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - Aims: Acute neutropenia induced by antibiotics is a rare side effect of this frequently prescribed class of drugs. We aim to find similarities and differences between reported cases. Methods: Through a database search (PubMed, 1968–2020), we identified published case reports and extracted, among other data, patient demographics, duration of treatment with the respective agent, and duration of recovery. Results: Overall, 83 cases were included. Neutropenia developed after a median (min–max) of 21 (17.5–28.5) days of treatment and was resolved after a median (min–max) of 6 (3.0–8.75) days. Vancomycin and ceftaroline emerged as the two most commonly described antibiotics. In 51.8% of cases, the suspected antibiotic was discontinued; in 37.4% of cases, it was substituted by another agent. Only three case reports mentioned death as a result of neutropenia. The use of granulocyte colony-stimulating growth factors (CSFs) shortened the duration of neutropenia and improved outcome for patients' health. Conclusion: Neutropenia induced by antibiotics remains a rare or rarely reported side effect. Long-term and high-dose treatment regimens expose a higher risk of development. Thus, regular full blood counts are advised during therapy.
AB - Aims: Acute neutropenia induced by antibiotics is a rare side effect of this frequently prescribed class of drugs. We aim to find similarities and differences between reported cases. Methods: Through a database search (PubMed, 1968–2020), we identified published case reports and extracted, among other data, patient demographics, duration of treatment with the respective agent, and duration of recovery. Results: Overall, 83 cases were included. Neutropenia developed after a median (min–max) of 21 (17.5–28.5) days of treatment and was resolved after a median (min–max) of 6 (3.0–8.75) days. Vancomycin and ceftaroline emerged as the two most commonly described antibiotics. In 51.8% of cases, the suspected antibiotic was discontinued; in 37.4% of cases, it was substituted by another agent. Only three case reports mentioned death as a result of neutropenia. The use of granulocyte colony-stimulating growth factors (CSFs) shortened the duration of neutropenia and improved outcome for patients' health. Conclusion: Neutropenia induced by antibiotics remains a rare or rarely reported side effect. Long-term and high-dose treatment regimens expose a higher risk of development. Thus, regular full blood counts are advised during therapy.
KW - agranulocytosis
KW - antibiotics
KW - drug-induced
KW - neutropenia
KW - side effect
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121916199&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/bcp.15170
DO - 10.1111/bcp.15170
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85121916199
SN - 0306-5251
VL - 88
SP - 1978
EP - 1984
JO - British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
JF - British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
IS - 5
ER -