Febrile Neutropenia with Thrombocytopenia after Infliximab Induction in a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis

• Main Authors: Gustavo Gomez, Shifa Umar, Mohammad Bilal, Cristina Strahotin, Kofi Clarke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2016-10-01
• Series: Case Reports in Gastroenterology
• Subjects: Febrile neutropenia; Thrombocytopenia; Ulcerative colitis; Infliximab
• Online Access: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/448071

A 34-year-old female with left-sided ulcerative colitis (UC) developed severe febrile neutropenia/thrombocytopenia soon after infliximab induction therapy. There was no other plausible cause of the cell line abnormalities other than an accurate temporal association with infliximab administration. Supportive care, broad-spectrum antibiotic, and single dose of filgrastim was given on day 5 of admission due to persistently low absolute neutrophil count and fevers. The cell lines recovered, fever resolved and the patient made a complete clinical recovery. Clinicians should be aware of this potential life-threatening inflixmab side effect previously unreported in adults with UC.