Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT; sometimes known as HIT type II) is a serious, immune system– mediated complication of heparin therapy often resulting in devastating thromboembolic outcomes. Although nomenclature distinctions have been made historically between this condition and the non–immune system–mediated, asymptomatic transient drop in platelet count in some patients receiving hepar...

Thrombocytopenia and pancytopenia, occurring in patients with Fanconi anemia (FA), are interpreted either as progression to bone marrow failure or as developing myelodysplasia. On the other hand, immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) represents an acquired and often self-limiting benign hematologic disorder, associated with peripheral, immune-mediated, platelet destruction requiring different managemen...

Platelets from 24 patients with immune thrombocytopenia resistant to standard therapy (refractory ITP), 35 patients with nonimmune thrombocytopenia (non-ITP), and 32 normal donors were studied in regard to platelet surface-bound IgG (PBIgG) and the ability of these platelets to be bound by human monocytes in vitro (monocyte-platelet rosette assay). Fourteen (58%) of the platelet samples from re...

Three infants between 8 and 9 months of age developed thrombocytopenia resulting from immune-mediated platelet destruction, as evidenced by the presence of serum antibody to platelets and elevated platelet-associated immunoglobulin G in two patients, and abundant bone marrow megakaryocytes in all patients. The patients had a satisfactory response to corticosteroid therapy, and platelet counts h...

BACKGROUND Vancomycin has only rarely been implicated as a cause of thrombocytopenia, and there is only limited evidence that this complication is caused by immune mechanisms. We conducted a study to determine whether thrombocytopenia is caused by vancomycin-dependent antibodies in patients being treated with vancomycin. METHODS We identified and characterized vancomycin-dependent, platelet-r...

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in adults is an acquired chronic immune-mediated disorder defined by isolated thrombocytopenia. In recent years, an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of ITP has been achieved and it is now accepted that the disorder is due to increased platelet destruction and decreased platelet production from megakary-ocytes. Thrombopoietin (TPO)-receptor agonists (ro...