many side effects (e.g., dry mouth, weight gain, increased risk of seizures, initial sedation), one of which is agranulocytosis. According to Klimke and Klieser, the average estimate of risk for the development of clozapine-induced agranulocytosis is about 1-2 percent during the first year of treatment, with the strongest likelihood being in the first three to six months.
For the most part, clozapine-induced agranulocytosis is treatment. In this regard, good results have been found for filgrastim. Geibig and Marks (1993), for example, reported on the case of a 64-year-old woman who had been on long-term clozapine; she had also been receiving short-term molindone therapy for schizophrenia. She was hospitalized with presumed drug-induced agranulocytosis that was successfully treated with filgrastim is reported; and, according to the authors, a bone marrow biopsy and the initial white blood cell count were consistent with drug-induced agranulocytosis. Following seven days of treatment with subcutaneous
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