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Emphasis on the early diagnosis of antithyroid drug-induced agranulocytosis: retrospective analysis over 16 years at one Chinese center

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Abstract

Purpose

Antithyroid drug (ATD)-induced agranulocytosis is a rare but life-threatening adverse drug reaction that occurs in patients during the treatment of Graves’ disease. We aimed to comprehensively examine data for patients with this rare complication and to improve the clinical safety of ATDs.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 64 hospitalized patients diagnosed with ATD-induced agranulocytosis between 2000 and 2015.

Results

Agranulocytosis occurred in 52 (81.3%) patients within the first 3 months after initiation of ATD therapy. Fever (84.4%) and sore throat (82.8%) were the most common symptoms. Although they experienced symptoms, 30 (46.9%) patients did not seek treatment immediately and delayed their diagnosis of agranulocytosis. The minimum granulocyte count was lower in the patients diagnosed after the appearance of symptoms than in those diagnosed before the appearance of symptoms (0.01 × 109/L (0 × 109/L − 0.06 × 109/L) versus 0.26 × 109/L (0.05 × 109/L − 0.40 × 109/L), P < 0.001). The interval days from the appearance of symptoms to the diagnosis of agranulocytosis were negatively correlated with the minimum granulocyte count (r = −0.348, P = 0.005). In addition, a lower minimum granulocyte count was associated with a longer recovery time (β = −11.899, 95% CI −15.304 to −8.496).

Conclusions

Our findings have demonstrated that delayed diagnosis of ATD-induced agranulocytosis is common in our population. Delayed diagnosis is associated with severe agranulocytosis and may prolong the recovery time from agranulocytosis. Monitoring of the white blood cell and granulocyte counts may be an effective way to establish an early diagnosis and prevent progression to severe agranulocytosis.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by General project, Institutional science foundation of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University (2014YK23). We thank American Journal Experts (AJE) for English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Y. He, Z. Khan, W. Qiang, Y. Zhao & B. Shi

  2. Department of Rheumatology, The Fifth Hospital of Xi’an, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    J. Li

  3. Clinical Research Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    J. Zheng & F. Gao

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  1. Y. He
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Correspondence to B. Shi.

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All authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Our study had been approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Medicine.

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As a retrospective study, formal consent is not required.

Additional information

This work was supported by General project, Institutional science foundation of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University (2014YK23).

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He, Y., Li, J., Zheng, J. et al. Emphasis on the early diagnosis of antithyroid drug-induced agranulocytosis: retrospective analysis over 16 years at one Chinese center. J Endocrinol Invest 40, 733–740 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-017-0626-x

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