title: Treatment of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome with imatinib mesylate.
abstract: Patients with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) show persistent hypereosinophilia of unknown etiology that is associated with end-organ damage. Different treatments, including the use of corticosteroids and cytotoxics, have been investigated for HES with modest success. We report a young patient with HES who developed stroke and remained refractory to conventional therapy. Therapy with imatinib mesylate, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is highly effective in treating patients with BCR-ABL-positive chronic myeloid leukemia, was tried with the patient. The result was impressive, with hematologic remission achieved rapidly. Our finding concurs with recent reports that imatinib mesylate may be a promising agent in the treatment of some cases of HES.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duggal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001549:Benzamides; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D017681:Hypereosinophilic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D008297:Male; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001549:Benzamides; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D010879:Piperazines; D011743:Pyrimidines; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases