Captopril-induced bone marrow suppression in two cardiac patients with trisomy 21

Neutropenia is an infrequent complication following administration of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, captopril. Most reports have been in adult patients, with rare reports in the pediatric population. We report two cases of neutropenia following captopril use in cardiac patients with trisomy 21. As this was not seen in patients without Down's syndrome, we postulate that patients with trisomy 21 have bone marrow which is "at risk" for suppression, and, thus warrant close evaluation while on such medications.