Abstract
A 29-year-old woman suffering from aplastic anemia was treated with low-dose anabolic steroid (oxymetholone, 5 mg/day) for 8 years. Four months after intrauterine fetal death associated with toxemic pregnancy, she experienced headache, followed by generalized seizures and right hemiparesis. Based on her angiographic findings, we diagnosed occlusion of the cerebral sinuses and veins. In the literature, we found 3 other patients with aplastic anemia complicated by cerebral sinus thrombosis. All previously reported patients had been taking either high-dose anabolic steroid or high-dose androgen for at least a few months, while out patient had, as mentioned, been taking low-dose analbolic steroid for about 8 years. Physicians should consider the possible complication of cerebral sinus thrombosis, when a patient with aplastic anemia on anabolic steroid or androgen therapy manifests both headache and a relatively rapid increase of platelet counts in the blood. In this situation, drug therapy should be discontinued immediately, or the dose decreased.
