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Author Notes:

Correspondence: Edmund K Waller; ewaller@emory.edu

MR analyzed and interpreted the patient data regarding the neutropenia and Vitamin B6 deficiency and wrote the manuscript.

CH and AN examined the patient, summarized the medical history, and edited the manuscript.

AH performed the histological examination of the marrow.

EKW analyzed the data, drew the figure, edited and wrote the final version of the manuscript.

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosures: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and accompanying clinical data.

A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Subject:

Treatment of severe neutropenia with high-dose pyridoxine in a patient with chronic graft versus host disease and squamous cell carcinoma: a case report

Tools:

Journal Title:

Journal of Medical Case Reports

Volume:

Volume 5, Number 372

Publisher:

, Pages 1-3

Type of Work:

Article | Final Publisher PDF

Abstract:

Introduction The differential diagnosis of neutropenia includes medications, infections, autoimmune diseases, and deficiencies of Vitamin B12 and folate. The association of Vitamin B6 deficiency with severe neutropenia is a rare finding. Case presentation A 51-year-old Caucasian woman presented with fever and profound neutropenia (48 neutrophils/uL). Her clinical history included non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in remission following treatment with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, quiescent chronic graft-versus-host disease, and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin metastatic to cervical lymph nodes. Medications included atenolol, topical clobetasol, Ditropan (oxybutynin), prophylactic voriconazole, prophylactic valganciclovir, Soriatane (acitretin), and Carac (fluorouracil) cream. The bone marrow was hypocellular without metastatic cancer or myelodysplasia. Neutropenia did not respond to stopping medications that have been associated with neutropenia (valganciclovir, voriconazole and Soriatane) or treatment with antibiotics or granulocyte colony stimulating factor. Blood tests revealed absence of antineutrophil antibodies, normal folate and B12 levels, moderate zinc deficiency and severe Vitamin B6 deficiency. Replacement therapy with oral Vitamin B6 restored blood vitamin levels to the normal range and corrected the neutropenia. Her cervical adenopathy regressed clinically and became negative on scintography following Vitamin B6 therapy and normalization of the blood neutrophil count. Conclusion Severe pyridoxine deficiency can lead to neutropenia. Screening for Vitamin B6 deficiency, along with folate and Vitamin B12 levels, is recommended in patients with refractory neutropenia, especially those with possible malabsorption syndromes, or a history of chronic-graft-versus host disease. Severe neutropenia may facilitate progression of squamous cell carcinoma.

Copyright information:

© 2011 Rauf et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).

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