Low dose cyclosporine-a therapy in severe aplastic anaemia.

J Assoc Physicians India. 2001 Oct;49:966-9.

Low dose cyclosporine-a therapy in severe aplastic anaemia.

Rai M, Singh VP, Shukla J, Sundar S, Jha VC.

Department of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of low dose
cyclosporine-A in the patients of severe aplastic anaemia, who cannot afford
allogenic bone marrow transplantation and immunosuppressive therapy with
antithymocyte globulin.

METHODS: The diagnosis of severe aplastic anaemia was
established by standard criteria. Twelve patients were given cyclosporine-A
orally at a dose of 6 mg/kg body weight in divided doses in two daily equal
proportions for six months. Eleven patients were put on oral stanozolol in the
dosage of 1 mg/kg body weight/day in divided doses. All surviving patients were
evaluated at three and six months.

RESULTS: At the end of six months, 41.66% of
twelve patients responded to cyclosporine-A. One patient had complete response
and four patients had partial response. Only one out of 11 patients receiving
stanozolol responded.

CONCLUSIONS: i) Cyclosporine-A is a viable therapeutic
option in the treatment of severe aplastic anaemia, ii) Low dose cyclosporine-A
is able to slow down the stormy course of the severe aplastic anaemia, iii)
Androgens have very little effect on the survival of patients of severe aplastic
anaemia.