Abstract
Drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia is a rare but underdiagnosed and potentially fatal condition. We report a case of severe hemolytic anemia induced by cefoxitin in a 45-year-old woman admitted with menometrorrhagia. Hemoglobin levels reached a nadir of 4.7 g/dl approximately 72 h after cefoxitin initiation, and hemolysis resolved when cefoxitin was discontinued and prednisone 1 mg/kg was initiated. A transfusion reaction workup revealed no abnormalities. Direct antiglobulin testing was weakly positive with anti-C3. The patient's plasma and RBC eluate reacted with cefoxitin-treated RBCs but not with untreated RBCs in the presence or absence of cefoxitin.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 197-199 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Acta haematologica |
Volume | 124 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cephalosporin
- Drug-induced hemolysis
- Hemolytic anemia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hematology