Quinine-induced thrombocytopenia following intravenous use of heroin.

Profound thrombocytopenia developed in a 22-year-old man after intravenous use of heroin. A high-titer, quinine-dependent, platelet-specific antibody was detected in his serum using lysis of normal platelets labeled with chromium 51 and an electroimmunoassay for measurement of platelet-associated IgG. The antibody was specific for quinine and failed to react with platelets in the presence of quinidine hydrochloride or two structural analogues of heroin. Quinine, a common adulterant found in heroin, was detected in the patient's blood and urine. On the basis of these observations, the patient was judged to have quinine-induced immunologic thrombocytopenia. To our knowledge, this report is the first to confirm that quinine used as an adulterant can induce immunologic thrombocytopenia following an injection of heroin.