Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in regnancy

Introduction Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also known as autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (AITP) is an acquired disease of adults and children, characterized by transient, self-limited (acute form) or persistent (chronic form) decrease of the peripheral blood platelet count (<150×109/L), due to a premature destruction by the reticuloendothelial system.1 Adult chronic ITP has an incidence of 58-66 new cases per million population per year2 affecting mainly women of childbearing age (female: male, 3:1).3 Consequently, haematologists often manage pregnant women with a previous or de novo diagnosis of ITP. The unique and particular characteristic of ITP in pregnancy is that the physicians must treat, at the same time, both the mother (differential diagnosis with other causes of thrombocytopenia; effects of pregnancy on ITP; need of therapy) and the fetus (assessment of the risk of neonatal thrombocytopenia; the mode of delivery to minimize the hemorrhagic risk; need of a specific treatment after partum). The aim of this section is a brief review of the clinical aspects of ITP in pregnancy.