title: The risk of sulfasalazine- and mesalazine-associated blood disorders.
abstract: Sulfasalazine (SASP) has often been reported to cause serious blood disorders, particularly agranulocytosis; however, little quantitative information is available to estimate the risk or to identify possible modifiers of the risk. We used comprehensive clinical information recorded on office computers by selected general practitioners in Britain to conduct a follow-up study of some 10,000 users of SASP and some 4000 users of mesalazine to estimate the risk of blood disorders associated with these drugs. Overall, the frequency of blood disorders attributable to SASP was 27/10,332 (2.6/1000 users). The risk for SASP users who were treated for arthritic disorders (6.1/1000 users) was some 10 times higher than that for users who were treated for inflammatory bowel disease (0.6/1000 users). There were no cases of blood disorders in users of mesalazine.
authors.affiliation: Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program 02173, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jick
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Dean
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000380:Agranulocytosis / Q000139:chemically induced; D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001168:Arthritis / Q000188:drug therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D019804:Mesalamine; D008875:Middle Aged; D011358:Product Surveillance, Postmarketing; D012307:Risk Factors; D012460:Sulfasalazine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D012460:Sulfasalazine; D019804:Mesalamine