Does hydralazine cause pancytopenia in patients treated for hypertension?
Hydralazine use for hypertension may be associated with the development of pancytopenia.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a potential hazard from the use of hydrallazine ("apresoline"), which is being given currently for treatment of hypertension. Favorable response has been reported with this drug in various types of hypertension, and some excellent results have followed its use in persons who have failed to benefit from sympathectomy. It is said to lower blood pressure through central action, perhaps at the level of the hypothalamus, and has a partial adrenergic blocking effect. Supposedly, it does not affect the myocardium adversely or decrease the renal blood flow. REPORT OF A CASE A woman, aged 44, has been a known hypertensive for 20 years. Her hypertension developed following bilateral chronic nephritis first acquired during pregnancy. Her systolic blood pressure at the time was 180 mm. Hg. She manifested symptoms of headache and cardiac embarrassment with associated grade 3 changes in the ocular fundi (Keith,
Manuel Kaufman (1953) studied this question.