Clinical pharmacy
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The treatment of two common adverse effects of dapsone (methemoglobinemia and hemolytic anemia) is discussed, and a case of acute dapsone intoxication is described. A pregnant 29-year-old woman was admitted to an emergency room three hours after ingesting 50 tablets of dapsone (100 mg each) and six alcoholic drinks. One hour after admission 50 g of activated charcoal was given p.o., and 65 mg of methylene blue was given i.v. ⋯ Methemoglobin concentrations never rose above 20% after the sixth dose of methylene blue. On hospital days 2 and 3, laboratory values were consistent with a diagnosis of hemolytic anemia; the patient received two units of packed red blood cells. The hematocrit decreased over the next three days to 23.9%, and the patient received four units of packed red blood cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)