Haema 2010; 1(2): 129-136
by Ioannis Dervenoulas, Panagiotis Tsirigotis
2nd Dept of Internal Medicine, Division of Haematology, “ATTIKON”, General University Hospital, Athens, Greece
Abstract
Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP) usually presents (80%) as an isolated disorder and the term primary or idiopathic is used to describe these cases. However, in 20% of patients with ATP, clinical and laboratory evaluation reveals the presence of another disorder with a pathogenesis similar to that of ATP, and the term secondary is used to define these cases. Secondary ATP most often presents in the context of infections, lymphomas, connective tissue disorders, immune deficiencies, etc. Differential diagnosis of secondary ATP is extremely important, since many of these patients require specific treatment that is not necessarily the same with that of primary disease.