Risperidone induced leucopenia and neutropenia: a case report and brief review of literature

Hematological abnormalities are frequently encountered during treatment with antipsychotic drugs. Most of these are mild and of no clinical significance, but in a small minority of patients, hazardous, potentially life-threatening hematological effects, including leucopenia, neutropenia, agranulocytosis, thrombocytopenia, anaemia , leucocytosis, thrombocytosis, eosinophilia and altered platelet function. (1). Clozapine is associated with several well-known abnormalities of blood cell count (2), but some case reports associate novel antipsychotics, such as risperidone with leucopenia and agranulocytosis (3). This report describes a case of leucopenia under treatment with Oral Risperidone , suggesting the necessity of early recognition of leucopenia in order to prevent occurrence of potentially life-threatening agranulocytosis. ( 1) .