Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:1196-1199
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
Hematological effects of carbamazepine in patients with affective illness
RT Joffe, RM Post, PP Roy-Byrne and TW Uhde
The hematological effects of carbamazepine, a drug effective in the acute
and prophylactic treatment of manic-depressive disorder, were assessed in
43 subjects with affective disorder. Carbamazepine was found to cause
statistically significant, but clinically insubstantial, decreases in white
blood cell indexes. The consistent decreases in white cell counts observed
with carbamazepine should be differentiated from the extremely rare,
idiosyncratic blood dyscrasias reported in the literature.
