alTP in children is generally a benign disease with a high frequency of spontaneous remission. Nevertheless the risk of life threatening haemorrhage exists as long as the platelet count remains below 20 × 109 / 1. Therefore the debate over treatment versus no treatment is still open.

In order to contribute to solving the problems of therapy of alTP, we reviewed 120 cases of alTP, all of which were diagnosed and treated in the Hematology Division of the “Bambino Gesu” Children's Hospital in Rome. The patients were differently treated at diagnosis: 76 received no treatment, 28 received IVIG at the dosage of 400 mg/kg/d for 5 days, 16 received continuous oral PDN at the dosage of 1-1.5 mg/kg/d for at least two weeks. We found no significant differences as to the percentage of responses among the three groups, but response was faster with IVIG than with PDN at standard dosage.

Log in or create a free account to read this content

Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com

Access through your institution

or

Sign in or create an account
Continue with Google
Continue with ORCiD