IMMUNE THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA

Course overview

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY DEFINES IMMUNE THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA (ITP) AS ISOLATED THROMBOCYTOPENIA (PLATELET COUNT LESS THAN 100,000/MICROL) WITH NORMAL WHITE BLOOD CELLS AND NORMAL HEMOGLOBIN IN THE SETTING OF A GENERALIZED PURPURIC RASH. ITP WAS PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS IDIOPATHIC THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA OR IMMUNE THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA. ITP WITHOUT A SECONDARY CAUSE OR UNDERLYING DISORDER IS KNOWN AS PRIMARY ITP AND IS THE FOCUS OF THIS ARTICLE. SECONDARY ITP IS DEFINED AS ITP WITH AN UNDERLYING CAUSE OR DISORDER, WHICH INCLUDES DRUG-INDUCED OR SYSTEMIC ILLNESS-INDUCED (E.G., SLE, HIV, CVID, ETC.). SEVERE ITP (GENERALLY WHEN PLATELET COUNTS ARE BELOW 20,000/MICROL) WARRANTS MEDICAL TREATMENT. ITP IS MOST COMMONLY SEEN IN CHILDREN AT ANY AGE, AS WELL AS IN THE ADULT POPULATION. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF IMMUNE THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA (ITP) AND EXPLAINS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN EVALUATING AND TREATING PATIENTS WITH THIS CONDITION.