Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in children]

Thrombocytopenia associated with ITP in children usually returns to normal within a couple of months. Drug therapies are required to treat hemorrhages in approximately one fifth of the patients. Intravenously infused immunoglobulin is effective more rapidly than corticosteroid therapy, but the treatment response is mostly temporary. Thrombocytopenia is alleviated by splenectomy in approx. 70% of chronic ITP patients. In the absence of primary disease causing thrombocytopenia, splenectomy has to be contemplated, if thrombocytopenia impairs the quality of life for more than one year. New drug therapies such as rituximab and growth factor products increasing thrombopoiesis may decrease the number of splenectomies.