Case Report

Successful use of etanercept in the treatment of acute lupus hemophagocytic syndrome

Authors

Nobuyuki Takahashi¹, Taio Naniwa² and Shogo Banno²

1. Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya Higashi Municipal Hospital, 1 Wakamizu, Higashi-ku, Nagoya 464-8547, Japan
2. Division of Rheumatology, Nagoya City University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology and Immunology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan

Received:

1 June 2007

Accepted:

3 September 2007

Published online:

27 December 2007

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Abstract

Hemophagocytic syndrome has been reported to be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. A 25-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus developed hemophagocytic syndrome that was refractory to the combination therapy with high-dose corticosteroid, cyclosporine, and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin, and successfully treated with the tumor necrosis factor inhibitor, etanercept. This case report provided the first observation that etanercept may be useful for the treatment of hemophagocytic syndrome associated with systemic lupus erythematosus refractory to conventional therapy.

Key words

Etanercept - Hemophagocytic syndrome - Systemic lupus erythematosus - Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors