AIM—To evaluate thetolerance of hydroxyurea in children affected with sickle cell disease. DESIGN—Questionnairestudy of French physicians likely to treat patients with sickle celldisease. Data were collected on 101 children with sickle cell disease,treated for a median of 22 months, 36of whom were treated for morethan three years. 13 children were younger than 5 years of age at inclusion. RESULTS—Hydroxyureawas stopped for medical reasons in 11 patients: 6 failures, 1 pregnancy, 1 cutaneous rash, 1 leg ulcer, 1 lupus. Acute lymphoblasticleukaemia occurred in a girl treated for 1.5months with hydroxyurea,this short interval arguing against a causative association. One 17 year old boy had paraparesis after 8 years oftreatment. CONCLUSIONS—Nomajor short or medium term toxicity was related to hydroxyurea in thiscohort of 101 children. However, the number of children treated formore than 3 years is too few to make firm conclusions on the long termtolerance of this drug.
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