Abstract
5 patients with uncommon hematological damages following the administration of diphenyihydantoin (DPH) after carniotomy were reported.
Intravascular hemolysis accompanied by marked hemoglobinuria occurred in 5 patients who had received DPH for 1 to 3 weeks after craniotomy. Moreover, marrow aplasia developed in one patient and pure red cell aplasia in 2 among these 5 patients. The former died from acute renal failure 2 weeks after the onset of the symptoms. The others recovered shortly after the withdrawal of the drug. In addition to the hematological damages, mild hepatic dysfunction was observed simultaneously and/or prior to hemoglobinuria in all cases.
It was suggested that hematotoxicity of DPH appeared under the hepatic dysfunction due to halothane which had been used for the anesthesia at craniotomy.
