Fifty-eight episodes of drug-induced agranulocytosis were treated at the Strasbourg Teaching Hospital between 1985 and 1997. Mean patient age was 65.7 years, and the female-to-male ratio was 1.4. Mean neutrophil count was 0.09.10(9)/L. The incidence remained stable at six cases per year throughout the study period. Thyroid antagonists (17.5 %), nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents (12.3 %), and antimicrobials were the most common offenders. Mean duration of exposure to the causative drug was 70 days. Mean time to recovery was 9.7 days overall. Two patients died (3.4 %). The 17 patients who received hematopoietic growth factors had a mean time to recovery of only 2.6 days (P = 0.55 by the Mann-Whitney test), with no morbidity. Educating physicians and patients about the need for routine blood cell count monitoring is essential.

We report a case of an abdominal lipomatosis secondary to steroid therapy. We expose the other etiology and the usual management of this illness.