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ABSTRACT: The prevalence of platelet primary secretion defects (PSD) among patients with bleeding diathesis is unknown. Moreover, there is paucity of data on the determinants of bleeding severity in PSD patients.
To determine the prevalence of PSD in patients with clinical bleeding and to study the relationships between the type of platelet defect and bleeding severity.
Data on patients referred for bleeding to the Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, Milan (Italy) in the years between 2008 and 2012 were retrieved to study the prevalence of PSD. Demographic, clinical and laboratory information on 32 patients with a diagnosis of PSD was used to compare patients with or without associated medical conditions and to investigate whether or not the type and extension of platelet defects were associated with the bleeding severity score (crude and age-normalized) or with the age at first bleeding requiring medical attention.
The estimated prevalence of PSD among 207 patients with bleeding diathesis and bleeding severity score above 4 was 18.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 14.1-24.7%). Patients without associated medical conditions had earlier age of first bleeding (18 vs 45 years; difference: -27 years; 95% CI: -46 to -9 years) and different platelet functional defect patterns (Fisher's exact test of the distribution of patterns, P = 0.007) than patients with accompanying medical conditions. The type and extension of platelet defect was not associated with the severity of bleeding.
PSD is found in approximately one fifth of patients with clinical bleeding. In patients with PSD, the type and extension of laboratory defect was not associated with bleeding severity.
PLoS ONE 01/2013; 8(4):e60396. · 4.09 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Thienopyridines are commonly used anti-platelet drugs that may be associated with the development of secondary, drug-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare but potentially life threatening condition. We report the case of a 70 year-old man with a history of recurrent idiopathic TTP episodes who was treated with clopidogrel and then ticlopidine for thromboprophylaxis after percutaneous coronary intervention. Treatment was successful with no signs of TTP recurrence. Platelet counts and ADAMTS13 activity levels remained normal for months after the initiation of anti-platelet therapy, with no reappearance of anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies. This report demonstrates that thienopyridines do not necessarily induce TTP in patients with a history of TTP who are in disease remission.
Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis 03/2012; 34(3):416-8. · 1.48 Impact Factor
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The Lancet 01/2011; 377(9763):356-8. · 38.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The clinical course of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is characterized by recurrent disease episodes in up to 50% of cases. The clinical presentation and severity of different TTP episodes have not been systematically compared. Laboratory and clinical information from 51 patients with recurrent disease, derived from 136 patients with TTP included in the Milan TTP registry (URL: http://www.ttpdatabase.org), were used to compare mortality, symptoms and disease-related laboratory measurements in different disease episodes. The prevalence of severe neurological symptoms (coma, seizures, and focal neurological defects) was significantly lower in recurrences than in the first episode. Platelet counts and haemoglobin levels at presentation were higher in recurrences than in the first disease episode, and lactate dehydrogenase levels were lower. Also, mortality tended to be lower in the second and third disease episodes than in the first. Recurrences of TTP are generally milder than first episodes. These differences in severity should be taken into account in clinical research on TTP and in patient management.
British Journal of Haematology 10/2010; 151(5):488-94. · 4.94 Impact Factor
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Haematologica 09/2010; 95(9):1444-7. · 6.42 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) (also known as Upshaw-Schulman syndrome, USS) is a rare, life-threatening disease characterized by thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, associated with the deficiency of the von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease (ADAMTS13) due to mutations in the corresponding gene. The spectrum of clinical phenotype in congenital TTP is wide, encompassing neonatal-onset disease and adult-onset disease, forms with a single disease episode and chronic-relapsing forms. We review ADAMTS13 gene variants associated with inherited ADAMTS13 deficiency and congenital TTP. To date, 76 mutations of ADAMTS13 are reported in the literature. Missense mutations, which constitute nearly 60% of ADAMTS13 mutations, preferentially localize in the 5'-half of the gene encoding the N-terminal half of the protein, where the domains that are indispensable for ADAMTS13 catalytic function are situated. In vitro expression studies in cell cultures have shown that defects in protein secretion and catalytic activity are the main mechanisms responsible for the deficiency of ADAMTS13 in congenital TTP patients. Even if data from the literature suggest the existence of genotype-phenotype correlations, a clear relationship between the type and the effect of ADAMTS13 genetic defects with disease manifestations remains to be established.
Human Mutation 10/2009; 31(1):11-9. · 5.69 Impact Factor
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New England Journal of Medicine 08/2009; 361(3):309; author reply 310. · 53.30 Impact Factor
