Australia. ADRAC has received a total of 14 reports of blood dyscrasias associated with terbinafine, indicated for onychomycosis, in patients aged 35-84 years (median 65). Of these reports, seven were of agranulocytosis, five of neutropenia and two of pancytopenia, with a time to onset of between 4 and 10 weeks. Recovery was documented in 9 of the 14 reports and, in four cases, occurred within one week of terbinafine discontinuation. The Committee recommends that patients taking terbinafine for longer than one month should be advised to report any symptoms of possible infection, and that if symptoms develop, blood counts should be checked.

Reference:

Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Bulletin, Vol. 23, No.5, October 2004. Available on the Internet at www.tga.gov.au

Reports in WHO-file: Blood dyscrasias 1