Treatment of severe aplastic anaemia with anti-thymocyte globulin

Ten patients (9 adults, 1 child) with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) were treated with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG). All patients developed serum sickness. No long-term adverse sequelae attributable to ATG were noted. Fifty percent of patients are alive at 1 year post-ATG. One patient received an allogeneic bone marrow transplant because of failure to respond to ATG. One long-term survivor is severely thrombocytopenic and requires support, and one patient has mild thrombocytopenia requiring oxymetholone therapy.