Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura in Childrenand Adults: A Comparative Retrospective Study inIRAN

Background: immune thrombocytopenic purpura (itp) is an autoimmune disease that can cause bleedingdisorders in patients, and presents in acute and chronic forms. the acute form is frequently seen in children,but the chronic form mainly inflicts adults. there are differences and similarities in clinical and laboratoryfindings of the disease between children and adults. we study these differences and similarities in these twogroups of patients with itp.methods: in this study, we retrospectively evaluated the clinical and laboratory data of 323 itp cases withinthree years. none of our patients had a history of thrombocytopenia. patients were classified into two groupsof children (3 months to 16 years of age) and adults (≥ 16 years). data analysis was conducted using spsssoftware, and the analysis results were compared between the two age groups.results: overall, the disease prevalence was higher in women than men, but the prevalence of childhood itpwas higher in males than females. the prevalence of initial symptoms including petechiae, purpura andecchymosis was 60.5% and 61%, respectively in all patients, but severe bleeding rarely occurred in patients(28.8%). 30.5% of patients had a history of infection before developing itp, and the children had a higherfrequency of infection (80.8%). before treatment, the mean platelet count in adults and children was33000/μl and 35000/μl, respectively.conclusion: comparison of data in children and adults with itp indicated similarities and differences in clinicaland laboratory findings between the two groups with differences in prevalence, bleeding symptoms, initialplatelet count and infection history.