[Neutropenia secondary to cefotaxime use]

Agranulocytosis is an uncommon complication of beta-lactam antibiotic therapy. Two patients who developed absolute neutropenia and anemia after having received 168 g of cefotaxime are reported. There was fever and rash, and hematologic recovery too place 10 and 6 days after withdrawal of the drug. The bone marrow culture showed that the incubation of cells with cefotaxime (10 micrograms/ml) induced a 26 +/- 1% inhibition of the formation of granulocytic colonies (CFU-GM) in controls and a 47% and 48% inhibition, respectively, in the two patients with neutropenia. When serum was added to the culture, the control serum improved the in vitro granulopoietic response, while the serum from the first patient inhibited in 77 +/- 1.5% the formation of CFU-CM in the control marrow. The need for the monitoring of peripheral blood cells in patients receiving long term treatment with beta-lactam antibiotics emphasized, as we have shown the suppressor effect of cefotaxime on the hematopoietic precursors and the effect of an autoimmune mechanism in some cases.