title: Ticlopidine-induced lupus.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Rambam Medical Center, The Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Braun-Moscovici
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schapira
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balbir-Gurman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sevilia
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nahir