Immune Thrombocytopenia-A Disease or a Group of Disorders? Where Do We Stand in 2019?

Abstract

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease that is characterized by a significant reduction in the number of circulating platelets and frequently associated with bleeding.[1] Although the pathogenesis of ITP is still not completely elucidated, it is largely recognized that the low platelet count observed in ITP patients is due to multiple alterations of the immune system leading to increased platelet destruction and impaired megakaryocytopoiesis and thrombocytopoiesis.[2] The clinical manifestations and the patients' response to different treatments are very heterogeneous suggesting that ITP is rather a group of disorders sharing common characteristics, namely, loss of immune tolerance toward platelet (and megakaryocyte) antigens[3] and increased bleeding tendency.[4]