Thrombocytopenic purpura in pregnancy.

Abstract

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura is a rare disease. The concomitant occurrence of this entity with pregnancy is an unusual finding and furthermore carries a high mortality. Yet such cases are truly worth extensive study and indeed have led to a significant clarification of the pathogenesis of thrombocytopenic purpura. Following is a report of a pregnant patient who had thrombocytopenic purpura. It will be followed by a discussion of some of the recent work on the pathogenesis of the platelet deficiency. The capillary fragility and the coagulation defect in this disease will not be discussed. REPORT OF A CASE A 27-year-old white housewife entered Colorado General Hospital for the first time on Feb. 23, 1954, with chief complaints of epistaxis, hematuria, and purpura of one month's duration and pregnancy of five months' duration. Social, personal, and family histories were noncontributory. History revealed that she had acute rheumatoid arthritis at age 12, involving