Marrow aplasia following colchicine treatment for gouty arthritis

A 69-year-old man was given 8 mg of colchicine intravenously to treat an acute attack of gout. A maintenance dose of 2 mg/day of oral colchicine was then used to prevent recurrence. Three months later, the patient developed thrombocytopenia, followed by leukopenia and then by anemia at three and four months distance, respectively. The patient had shown no signs of acute toxicity with intravenous colchicine, but liver enzymes were raised after two months of oral treatment. The sequential involvement of the three blood precursor lines, in the order to their physiological half-lives, suggests direct toxicity, rather than idiosyncrasy, due to slow accumulation of the drug within target cells. The prophylactic use of colchicine, especially in the elderly, is questioned.