Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF), Hypocalcemia, and Hypomagnesemia

Excerpt

To the Editor: Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is currently being studied as a possible therapy for severe aplastic anemia, although the myelopoietic response to such therapy is usually only transient (1) and is often disappointing in patients with very severe neutropenia (2). Adverse metabolic effects associated with this treatment are rare, but hypokalemia in the setting of GM-CSF therapy has recently been described (3). We report a case of acute hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia causing tetany in a patient with severe aplastic anemia who was treated with human recombinant mammalian glycosylate (rh) GM-CSF (Sandoz-Schering Plouth, Basel, Switzerland).

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