Adult idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder caused by antiplatelet autoantibodies that cause platelet destruction by the reticuloendothelial system. The disease has been well-documented in the West. We studied 78 ITP patients diagnosed and followed up in a tertiary hospital, over a 10-year period, to give a profile of our local patients and their response to treatm...

The effects of B-cell depletion with rituximab on regulatory T cells (Tregs) have not been determined. We investigated Tregs in patients receiving rituximab for chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The peripheral blood Tregs, identified as CD4 FOXP3 T cells, were measured by flow cytometry prior to and after the immunotherapy. In addition, Tregs were analyzed for their usage of th...

Although extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel diseases are not uncommon, few reports have described concurrent idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is also a rare complication of ulcerative colitis (UC). This report describes the case of a 14-year-old boy who experienced recurrent ulcerative colitis 3 months after temporary improvement followi...

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is rare. We describe a case of AMI in patient with ITP. An 81-year-old woman presented with acute inferoposterior MI with low platelet count on admission (34,000/µl). Coronary angiography revealed significant mid right coronary artery (RCA) stenosis with thrombus, subsequently underwent successful percutane...

Background and Objective: Different studies have investigated the link between helicobacter pylori and extra digestive diseases such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. However, the relationship between ITP and H pylori is less clear. Most of the studies have focused on H pylori eradication in chronic ITP, so we focused on the effect of H pylori eradication on chronicity of ITP in adult pat...

Background: Myelodysplastic syndrome is a mixed clonal disorder of bone marrow progenitor cells. Understanding the pattern of the different lineage-specific, immature, and mature markers in myelodysplastic syndrome will help in setting-up the frame of reference to diagnose. Patients and Methods: We compared 60 bone marrow samples from 30 newly-diagnosed patients with myelodysplastic syndrome ...

About 25-30% of patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) are refractory to corticosteroids, splenectomy and other treatments. It has been suggested that interferon-alpha 2b (IFN-alpha 2b) may be useful in the treatment of chronic refractory ITP patients. We treated 9 chronic refractory ITP patients with IFN-alpha 2b: the results were poor.

We present a 14-year-old boy, a known case of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) for five years, and was treated with intermittent oral steroids. He presented with left upper abdominal pain of three months' duration. The pain was dull, aching and non-radiating. There were no other associated features. Before this presentation, he was receiving oral steroids for a month. The patient had b...