Captopril-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis and agranulocytosis successfully treated with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.
Captopril-induced bone marrow suppression is rare, except in certain high-risk patient populations. Severe exfoliative rashes have also been associated with captopril, but a combined presentation of toxic epidermal necrolysis and agranulocytosis has not been previously described. We report an unusual case of captopril-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis with agranulocytosis in a patient with no known risk factors. The bone marrow suppression was successfully treated using granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), and the white blood cell (WBC) count recovered within 3 days after starting therapy. This case underscores the early experience with captopril, which showed a strong correlation between high doses used to treat hypertension and bone marrow suppression.