Thrombocytopenia during pregnancy and its outcome- A prospective study

Thrombocytopenia is the second most common haematological finding in pregnancy after anaemia. Thrombocytopenia is defined as decrease in platelet count < 1,50,000/µL. The physiological thrombocytopenia of pregnancy is mild and has no adverse effects on mother and foetus whereas thrombocytopenia associated with medical conditions can have serious maternal-foetal consequences and needs specific monitoring and appropriate management. : The aims of the study were to evaluate causes of thrombocytopenia in pregnancy and to study clinical profile, maternal and perinatal outcome in thrombocytopenic antenatal patients after 28 weeks.: Aprospective study was conducted in department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and department of Pathology at Government Medical College and Rajendra Hospital, Patiala.100 antenatal females were included in the study with platelet count <1,50,000/µL and period of gestation more than 28 weeks. The subjects were investigated after detailed history and examination. Maternal and foetal outcomes were observed in all cases.Out of 100 subjects with thrombocytopenia, 33% had gestational thrombocytopenia, which was the most common cause; followed by preeclampsia/eclampsia (24%). 18% subjects had severe thrombocytopenia. Complications were seen in the form of HELLP (6%), ICU admission (3%), PPH (3%), Puerperal sepsis (1%). Maternal thrombocytopenia due to medical causes needs strict observation and timely intervention for favourable maternal and perinatal outcomes.

Elevated eosinophil levels observed in infantile hemangioma patients from Kaifeng, China

Infantile hemangioma (IH) is one of the most common soft-tissue neoplasms of infancy. Although clinical diagnosis for IH is well-established, the haematological parameters associated with IH are not well explored. In this short study, we observed significantly higher eosinophil (EO) numbers in IH patient blood compared to healthy controls. This contributed to the observed higher EO % in the peripheral blood of IH patients and was irrespective of age. This new haematological finding could carry a potential diagnostic/prognostic relevance for IH.

Thrombocytopenia in children: a clinico-etiological profile in an urban tertiary care hospital

Background: Thrombocytopenia is a common haematological finding that we come across while managing a sick child. Etiological profile and presentation of thrombocytopenia varies among children. The objective of this study was to study the clinical and laboratory profile of children with thrombocytopenia, associated clinical complications and assess the relationship between platelet levels and severity of disease.Methods: The study was carried out in 644 children between 1 month and 12 years, admitted in Paediatric Department of Raja Rajeshwari medical college and hospital, Bangalore between August 2012 to August 2014.Results: The commonest causes of thrombocytopenia in our study were of infectious aetiology (86.6%). Among Infections Viral infections were the major cause in more than 78% of cases. Other causes included haematological problems, drug induced thrombocytopenia and connective tissue disorders. Bleeding manifestations were present in 33.07% of patients and the commonest bleeds were skin and mucous membranes. Bleeding manifestations were seen most commonly in children with a platelet count less than 50000/µl.Conclusions: Viral Infections were the commonest cause for thrombocytopenia in Children. Platelet count was neither predictive of bleeding manifestations nor predictive of need for platelet transfusion.

Thrombocytopaenia in canine babesiosis and its clinical usefulness

Canine babesiosis is a common cause of thrombocytopaenia but there are few formal studies that have investigated this haematological finding in dogs. Thrombocyte counts from full blood counts were retrospectively analysed for the years 1996-2002. Thrombocyte counts and mean platelet volumes of dogs with babesiosis were compared with those of dogs, seen over the same period of time, that did not have babesiosis. There were 1162 cases in the Babesiosis group and 10 808 in the Non-babesiosis group.Afrequency distribution of the thrombocyte counts showed a trimodal distribution in the Non-babesiosis group compared to a bimodal distribution in the Babesiosis group, with a strong positive skewness. The modes for the frequency distributions were 10, 40, 300 and 10, 35 × 109/l thrombocytes, respectively. The median thrombocyte count in the Babesiosis group was 14 × 109/l and 282 × 109/l in the Non-babesiosis group. There was a statistically significant difference in the median thrombocyte count between the Babesiosis group and the Non-babesiosis group. In the Babesiosis group, 99 %of the thrombocyte counts were below the lower reference range value (250 × 109/l ) and 62 % of thrombocyte counts were below 25 × 109/l . The mean platelet volume (11.1 fl) for the Babesiosis group was greater than the reference range (6-10 fl) and significantly larger than in the Non-babesiosis group (median 9.7 fl). Thrombocyte counts greater than 110 and 250×109/l had a predictive value that the dog was not suffering from babesiosis of 99.3 % and 99.8 %, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the thrombocyte counts of dogs with babesiosis when grouped by parasitaemia scores. The mechanisms of the thrombocytopaenia are not fully understood, and multiple mechanisms, including concomitant thrombocytopaeniainducing diseases such as ehrlichiosis, probably result in this haematological finding. Babesiosis in the South African canine population is associated with thrombocytopaenia in nearly all patients and is severe in the majority of them. In the absence of thrombocytopaenia, babesiosis is an unlikely diagnosis.