Reactions 1089 - 18 Feb 2006

Oxcarbazepine

Thrombocytopenia: case reportA 63-year-old woman developed thrombocytopenia during

treatment with oxcarbazepine [therapeutic indication notclearly stated].

The woman, who had been hospitalised with paranoidideation and increasingly disorganised behaviour, and hadreceived a number of neuropsychotherapeutics, continued tobe withdrawn and isolated. Oxcarbazepine 300mg twice dailywas then added to her ongoing treatment with aripiprazole andvenlafaxine and she showed an improvement in her mood andenergy levels. After some days, she developed a low-gradefever and her platelet count had decreased to 208 000/µL [timeto onset not stated] from 300 000/µL(normal 150 000–400 000). Daily monitoring showed acontinued decrease in her platelet count; her platelet countwas 110 000 and 18 000/µL on the seventh and tenth days ofher treatment, respectively. The decrease in her platelet countwas attributed to oxcarbazepine treatment.

Oxcarbazepine was discontinued and, 4 days later, thewoman’s platelet count had increased to 250 000/µL and,3 days later, it had normalised.

Author comment: "A cause-and-effect relationshipbetween oxcarbazepine and thrombocytopenia is beingpostulated because a previously normal blood profile becameabnormal without any other change in pharmacotherapy ormedical causes. This abnormality also corrected itself whenthe offending agent was discontinued."Mahmud J, et al. Oxcarbazepine-induced thrombocytopenia. Psychosomatics 47:73-74, No. 1, Jan-Feb 2006 - USA 801033735

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Reactions 18 Feb 2006 No. 10890114-9954/10/1089-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved