Hydroxyurea and macrocytosis |
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| Authors: | STANLEY SPIER LAWRENCE M SOLOMON NANCY B ESTERLY WALTER FRIED |
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| Institution: | Departments of Dermatology and Medicine, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine, University of Illinois, P.O. Box 6998, Chicago 606S0, Illinois, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Nine patients who were treated for psoriasis with hydroxyurea displayed peripheral macrocytosis. Mild megaloblastic changes were also seen in the bone marrow of three patients. One patient receiving hydroxyurea developed mild anaemia, another leukopenia. Macrocytosis did not appear to be secondary to an alteration in serum B12 or folate levels. The haematological side-effects of hydroxyurea therapy, at the relatively low doses used to treat psoriasis, are similar to those seen with the higher doses used for the treatment of malignant tumours or leukaemia. |
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