ABSTRACT
We report a case of a 25-year-old woman, with the diagnosis of severe aplastic anemia without a histocompatible sibling donor for bone marrow transplantation. The patient has been treated successfully with a combination of two immunosuppressive agents, cyclosporine and antilymphocyte globulin, after not responding to primary therapy with corticosteroids and growth factors. She showed a complete response to treatment, with transfusional independence, after a follow-up of 14 months. The pathophysiology of aplastic anemia, the mechanism of action and secondary effects of these treatments are discussed.
Subject(s)
Anemia, Aplastic/therapy , Bone Marrow Transplantation , Adult , Anemia, Aplastic/diagnosis , Biopsy , Bone and Bones/pathology , Combined Modality Therapy , Female , Humans , Immunosuppression TherapyABSTRACT
Ceftazidime was used in twenty-eight febrile episodes recorded in twenty-two neutropenic patients (eleven of each sex, aged between 15 and 73 years) who were immunologically compromised (nineteen acute leukaemias and three malignant lymphomas treated with cytostatics). Seven pathogens were isolated in six patients (four klebsiella, one proteus, one Escherichia coli and one enterobacter). The clinical response was cure in ten cases, improvement in six, failure in four and unassessable in eight. In this study ceftazidime was as effective as the combinations of antibiotics generally used in these cases and free of adverse events.