Open AccessBreaking-Out Bad: A Case of Levamisole-Induced Vasculitis
Author(s) -
Chenchen Hou,
Nadine Kronfli,
Khalid Azzam,
Mohamed Panju MSc
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
canadian journal of general internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2369-1778
pISSN - 1911-1606
DOI - 10.22374/cjgim.v10i2.33
Subject(s) - levamisole , medicine , purpura (gastropod) , leukopenia , etiology , vasculitis , immunology , disease , dermatology , pathology , toxicity , biology , ecology
The addition of harmful adulterants to cocaine has become widespread in recent years and constitutes a novel etiological agent for disease. One agent in particular, the veterinary anthelmintic “levamisole,” has been increasingly used, owing to its potentiating effects of cocaine and its ability to pass crude methods of detection. Levamisole has been shown to cause a vasculitic syndrome of retiform purpura and skin necrosis, as well as leukopenia and autoantibody formation.