Primary immune thrombocytopenia: Experience of a specialised clinic

Abstract

IntroductionAlthough primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is rare in childhood, it is the most frequent cause of thrombocytopenia. There have been attempts to establish risk factors to predict the progression of the disease in order to optimise its management, which has changed in recent years due to, among other reasons, specialised care. Material and methodsA retrospective, observational and analytical study was conducted on patients diagnosed with ITP over a 3-year period in a Paediatric Haematology specialist clinic. ResultsFrom the epidemiological, clinical and analytical point of view, the characteristics of this group are similar to others. Most of the patients (23/31, 74.2 %) had ITP for less than 12 months, with there being no serious complications related to the disease or the treatment received. It was established that risk factors were related to being slowly evolving (lower event-free survival (EFS)) with no statistical significance, female gender, age over 10 years, leukopenia absence of initial severe thrombocytopenia, and non-specialised care. The absence of a history of infection was significantly related to a lower EFS. ConclusionsThe epidemiological and analytical risk factors for a slowly evolving ITP are the same that described in the literature. Patients treated before the beginning of specialised care also had a lower EFS. These data seem to support the current recommendation that rare diseases should be managed in specialised units.