Adult idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura without the option of splenectomy

In this part of Malaysia, consent of splenectomy is virtually unobtainable, so we studied the outcome of ITP without this treatment option. Thirty-two adult patients were seen, but 7 defaulted before therapy evaluation. Of the remaining 25, 17 achieved a complete remission with prednisolone, but in only 8 was this prolonged. Twelve patients, who failed to respond to prednisolone or who required > 15 mg/day as maintenance, were offered splenectomy, but all fused. Of these 12: one has died from an intracranial haemorrhage; three others have defaulted while on no treatment with platelet counts of < 16 x 10(9)/1; one has had a baby who died from intracranial bleeding. The other seven patients have platelet counts ranging from 4 - 202 x 10(9)/1 with moderate bleeding on doses of prednisolone of 0-60 mg/day: long-term corticosteroid side-effect are evident in all but one of them. This study demonstrates that ITP patients who refuse splenectomy have a high morbidity.