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. 2021 Jul;61(7):2014-2018.
doi: 10.1111/trf.16368. Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Outcomes and management of immune thrombocytopenia secondary to COVID-19: Cleveland clinic experience

Tariq Kewan  1 , Tarini N Gunaratne  1 , Komal Mushtaq  1 , Dina Alayan  1 , Hamed Daw  2 , Abdo Haddad  2
Affiliations

Outcomes and management of immune thrombocytopenia secondary to COVID-19: Cleveland clinic experience

Tariq Kewan et al. Transfusion. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired disease characterized by thrombocytopenia secondary to autoantibodies against platelets. Here, we report the clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced ITP cases.

Study design and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 3255 COVID-19 patients. COVID-19-induced ITP was diagnosed after excluding possible common causes. Bleeding severity was assessed based on the modified World Health Organization (WHO) bleeding severity score.

Results: We identified 11 (0.34%) patients with COVID-19-induced ITP. Of all patients, 63.6% were males and the median age was 63 years. The median time from COVID-19 diagnosis to the onset of ITP was 10 days. Bleeding observed in 63.6% of the patients. Clinically significant bleeding (WHO Grade 3) occurred in single patient who required blood transfusion. Standard treatment with glucocorticoids and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) was effective in achieving excellent response in most cases. Of all patients, complete response and response to treatment were achieved in 45.5% and 27.3% patients, respectively. The median time to ITP recovery was 4 days. Eltrombopag was used in three patients who relapsed. Four patients required mechanical ventilation, and none of them survived secondary to hypoxic respiratory failure.

Conclusion: ITP secondary to COVID-19 usually presents after the first week of symptoms beginning. Most of our patients had WHO Grade 1-2 bleeding scores. Standard treatment with glucocorticoids and IVIG is effective in achieving an excellent response. The safety of eltrombopag is not very well established in COVID-19 patients, and additional studies are needed for a better safety profile.

Keywords: immune thrombocytopenia; intravenous immunoglobulin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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