Thrombocytopenia resident survival guide

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ogheneochuko Ajari, MB.BS, MS [2]

Introduction

Thrombocytopenia is the decreased concentration of platelets below 150,000 cells per microliter of blood.

Causes

Life Threatening Causes

Life-threatening causes include conditions which may result in death or permanent disability within 24 hours if left untreated.

• Disseminated intravascular coagulation
• HELLP syndrome

Common Causes

• Bone marrow suppression (chemotherapy, irradiation)
• Chronic alcohol use
• Chronic liver disease
• Congenital thrombocytopenia
• Disseminated intravascular coagulation
• Hemolytic uremic syndrome
• Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
• Immune thrombocytopenic purpura
• Infections
• Medications
• Preeclampsia
• Pregnancy
• Pseudothrombocytopenia
• Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

Management

Shown below is an algorithm depicting the initial approach to thrombocytopenia.

Characterize the symptoms: ❑ Onset (acute, chronic, recurrent) ❑ Easy bruising ❑ Petechiae ❑ Rashes ❑ Melena ❑ Fevers ❑ Bleeding ❑ Headaches ❑ Abdominal pain ❑ Visual disturbances ❑ Weight loss ❑ Night sweats ❑ Bone pain Obtain a detailed history: ❑ Recent medications ❑ Pregnancy ❑ Family history ❑ Malignancy ❑ Recent infection ❑ Recent vaccinations ❑ Recent travels ❑ Recent transfusions ❑ Chronic alcohol use ❑ Recent hospitalization ❑ Recent organ transplantation ❑ Recent valve replacement surgery ❑ Dietary habits ❑ Sexual history ❑ Ingestion of quinine containing beverages

Examine the patient: ❑ Bleeding location ❑ Bleeding severity ❑ Hepatomegaly ❑ Splenomegaly ❑ Mucocutaneous bleeding ❑ Skeletal abnormalities ❑ Joint or soft tissue bleeding ❑ Rash ❑ Generalized lymphadenopathy ❑ Skin necrosis ❑ Neurologic exam

Order tests: ❑ Peripheral blood smear ❑ CBC and differential ❑ Reticulocyte count ❑ LDH ❑ LFT ❑ Renal function test ❑ Clotting screen ❑ PT ❑ aPTT ❑ Fibrinogen ❑ Haptoglobin ❑ D-dimer ❑ Request a hematology consult

❑ Order additional tests based on the results of the CBC-D and peripheral blood smear

Possible Pseudothrombocytopenia ❑ Clumped platelets

True thrombocytopenia

❑ Order platelet count on heparinized blood specimen

Isolated thrombocytopenia

Thrombocytopenia with abnormalities in other blood lineages

Guide your next step by specific findings

Consider: ❑ ITP ❑ Drug induced thrombocytopenia ❑ HIV ❑ HCV ❑ H. pylori ❑ DIC ❑ Gestational thrombocytopenia

Look for: ❑ Schistocytes ❑ Spherocytes ❑ Dacrocytes ❑ Blasts ❑ Giant platelets ❑ Granulations ❑ Hypersegmented neutrophils ❑ Macrocytosis ❑ Lymphocytosis ❑ Neutropenia

Diagnostic Clues

Shown below is a table summarizing different findings on the peripheral blood smear findings and their associated conditions.

Findings on the peripheral blood smear	Associated conditions
Giant platelets	Hereditary thrombocytopenia
Schistocytes	DIC, TTP, HUS
Blasts	Bone marrow disorder
Dacrocytes	Myelofibrosis
Spherocytes RBC clumping	Evans syndrome
Nucleated RBCs	Hemolytic anemia, myelofibrosis, infiltration of the bone marrow
Lymphocytosis Neutrophilia Lymphocytosis Leukopenia Granulations	Infection
Macrocytosis Hypersegmented neutrophils	Megaloblastic anemia e.g. Vitamin B12 deficiency, Folate deficiency
Leukemic cells	Hematological malignancies
Pancytopenia	Aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, leukemia
Microspherocytes	Evans syndrome, thrombotic angiopathies
Macrocytosis	Vitamin B12 deficiency, folate deficiency
Parasites	Malaria

Treatment of Thrombocytopenia

The treatment of thrombocytopenia is specific to the underlying cause of thrombocytopenia.

Do's

• Order a peripheral blood smear in all patients with thrombocytopenia and check out the morphology of all blood cells lineages. The peripheral blood smear is one of the most important tests to order in the evaluation of thrombocytopenia.

• Consider the following diagnoses in the following categories of patients:
  • Critically ill patients: leukemia, manifested by blasts, and thrombotic microangiopathy, characterized by the presence of shistocytes
  • Hospitalized patients: HIT and DIC
  • Cardiac surgery patients: mechanical destruction, hemodilution, drug induced thrombocytopenia
  • Patients undergoing PCI: Drug induced thrombocytopenia (GpIIb-IIIa inhibitors)
  • Pregnant women: Gestational thrombocytopenia, preeclampsia, ITP

• If drug induced thrombocytopenia is suspected, stop the possible offending drug.

• Consider isolated thrombocytopenia in patients with thrombocytopenia in the absence of any systemic symptoms and the absence of any abnormalities in the other blood cells lineages.

• Order a bone marrow aspirate and biopsy in case of severe unexplained thrombocytopenia.

• Order a bone marrow biopsy for patients that are older than 60 years of age to rule out myelodysplastic syndrome or lymphoproliferative disorders.

• Treatment should be considered for patients with platelet counts less than 30,000 per microliter.

Dont's

• Don't initiate cancer chemotherapy or antiviral therapy in the presence of thrombocytopenia.