Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor administration in a case of neutropenia due to increased...

A 55-year-old female was admitted with fever which followed an episode of pseudomembranous colitis. Despite an accurate clinical investigation, there was no evidence for specific sites of infection. Remission of fever was not obtained with antibiotic therapy (gentamycin plus carbepenem) and progressive neutropenia was observed. Neutrophils fell to 0.3 x 10(9)/1. The diagnostic approach, including a bone marrow aspirate, excluded mechanisms leading to impaired neutrophil production, and in the suspect of increased neutrophil sequestration/destruction, whole-body scintigraphy with (99m)technetium-hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime ((99m)Tc-HMPAO)-labeled autologous leukocytes was performed. As a result, a site of leukocyte sequestration localized at the medium lobe of the right lung was detected. In an attempt to enhance neutrophil functions and achieve remission of infection, recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (Filgrastim, Granulokine 30, Roche) at the dosage of 300 microg/day, subcutaneously, was added. As a results, fever disappeared in three days, but neutrophil recovery was slower, and normalization of the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was obtained on day +7. The results obtained in this peculiar case of neutropenia, and the kinetics of both fever and ANC, suggest the possible combination of neutrophil function enhancement and an anti-inflammatory effect of rhG-CSF.