Ticlopidine-induced lupus.
Ticlopidine is a widely used drug for prevention of stroke and other serious vascular events with a multitude of possible side effects. An increasing number of drugs are being recognized as the triggering agents of drug-induced lupus. We describe three patients in whom the etiologic connection between ticlopidine and lupus was supported by the appearance of lupus-like features (fever, rash, arthritis, renal involvement, positive antinuclear and antihistone antibodies), shortly after drug initiation, and their gradual resolution after its discontinuation. If suggested by clinical or/and laboratory findings (fever of unknown cause, musculoskeletal involvement, hematologic abnormalities), the possibility of ticlopidine-induced lupus should be taken into consideration and appropriate investigations should be performed. Patients should resolve slowly but completely after withdrawal of ticlopidine.
Braun-Moscovici
Y
Y
Department of Rheumatology, Rambam Medical Center, The Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Schapira
D
D
Balbir-Gurman
A
A
Sevilia
R
R
Nahir
A M
AM