Category Archives: Platelet disorders

Case 61 – summary

Posted on 16/07/2016 by

Thank you for all your help this week! This week we looked at a case of childhood ITP.  Our patient presented with easy bruising over a 3 week period, and had had a minor urti the previous month. The patient … Continue reading →

Posted in Acquired bleeding, Platelet disorders | Tagged , , , , ,

Case 61 – update 2

Posted on 14/07/2016 by

So time for another update! Our patient has been started on oral iron for a iron deficiency anaemia. Given that she only has some bruising and a slight petechial rash the decision has been made to monitor her, but not … Continue reading →

Posted in Acquired bleeding, Platelet disorders | Tagged , , , , ,

Case 61 – update 1

Posted on 12/07/2016 by

What have we found out so far? We have a 15 year old girl who has presented with a few week history of easy bruising.  Blood tests have shows a microcytic anaemia with ferritin of 5 and a thrombocytopenia with … Continue reading →

Posted in Acquired bleeding, Platelet disorders | Tagged , , ,

Case 61 – the beginning

Posted on 10/07/2016 by

Welcome to our new case!This week we start in a gp practice. A 15 year old girl has attended with her mum as she has had problems with easy bruising. She has no other pmh. What would you like to … Continue reading →

Posted in Acquired bleeding, Platelet disorders | Tagged ,

Case 45 – summary

Posted on 10/10/2015 by

This case dealt with two relatively common problems. We had a pregnant patient who was both iron deficient and thrombocytopenic. 1) Iron deficiency in pregnancy Anaemia in pregnancy is fairly common. There can be a 45% increase in plasma volume which will … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Case 45 – update 4

Posted on 08/10/2015 by

The iron deficiency anaemia has resolved. A ferritin was checked (although not technically necessary) and it was reassuringly well within the normal range indicating adequate iron stores. Now the issue is she is thrombocytopenic in week 36: Hb 118g/L MCV … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Case 45 – update 3

Posted on 07/10/2015 by

The blood film in the earlier post has been reported as : “Microcytic anaemia with no specific features of iron deficiency or haemoglobinopathy; suggest check iron status” The HPLC shows no variant haemoglobin and the HbA2 is within normal limits … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Case 45 – update 2

Posted on 06/10/2015 by

So far we have a pregnant lady who is feeling tired and has a microcytic anaemia. It is likely she has iron deficiency. Her family origin questionnaire is done as part of antenatal screening and she states that she is … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Case 45 – update 1

Posted on 05/10/2015 by

So far we have a women who is 11 weeks pregnant and feeling tired and out of sorts. She has a microcytic anaemia and a borderline platelet count. Firstly let’s think about the anaemia. The two most common causes of … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Case 45 – the beginning

Posted on 04/10/2015 by

You are in a GP surgery as the GP registrar. A 24 year old female complains of feeling tired. She is eleven weeks pregnant and was due her ‘booking visit’ by the midwife in a one week’s time. She has … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Case 32 – summary

Posted on 20/02/2015 by

Our patient has now been on argatroban for 5 days and his plt count has risen to 115. He has no evidence of bleeding and no thrombosis. He continues to improve post operatively and is starting to mobilise. Given that … Continue reading →

Posted in Platelet disorders | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Case 32 – update 2

Posted on 18/02/2015 by

Our patient has been found to be HIT positive on the ELISA. He initially had a HIT screen test with a rapid gel agglutination assay for antibodies directed against the PF4/heparin complexes which is positive. This test has a good … Continue reading →

Posted in Platelet disorders | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Case 32 – update 1

Posted on 16/02/2015 by

So what have we found out so far? We have a 40 year old man, who had one episode of ITP as a child, with dilated cardiomyopathy who is now 7 days post LVAD with plt of 30 and falling. … Continue reading →

Posted in Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Case 32 – the beginning

Posted on 15/02/2015 by

Welcome to our new case! Another haematology problem that we will need everyone’s expertise to unravel. This week we are dealing with matters of the heart! A 40 year old man with dilated cardiomyopathy, who is awaiting a heart transplant, … Continue reading →

Posted in Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Case 31 part 4 – summary

Posted on 06/02/2015 by

Thanks for all of your comments. The film had numerous red cell changes including fragmentation (schistocytes), Howell Jolly bodies, accanthocytes, spherocytes. There was also thrombocytopenia and Howell-Jolly like inclusions in the neutrophils. The most significant finding are the red cell fragmentation. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Laboratory morphology, Platelet disorders, Transplant | Tagged | 2 Comments

Case 31 part 4 – the beginning

Posted on 05/02/2015 by

Here’s the next installment in our series of short cases. This was a film from a nine year old post haematopoietic stem cell transplant for relapsed AML. The patient was one month post transplant with no evidence of AML but still … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Laboratory morphology, Paediatric haematology, Platelet disorders, Transplant | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Case 30 – summary

Posted on 21/01/2015 by

We have established that our newborn baby with an intracranial haemorrhage has a low platelet count and have debated the likely cause for this. The list of differentials include: Maternal ITP  (Immune thrombocytopenic purpura: autoimmune destruction of platelets) which can … Continue reading →

Posted in Paediatric haematology, Platelet disorders, Transfusion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Case 30 – update 1

Posted on 19/01/2015 by

So, we have a neonate with an intracranial haemorrhage, diagnosed after birth due to decreased responsiveness. You had a number of questions for mum and suggestions for tests, including: HISTORY: Medications taken during pregnancy:     only folic acid. Unexplained bleeding in … Continue reading →

Posted in Paediatric haematology, Platelet disorders, Transfusion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Case 30 – the beginning

Posted on 15/01/2015 by

And we don’t mean we’ve only just entered our 4th decade (we wish!) but that we are now on to our 3oth case. So far we’ve covered a massive range of topics, from common conditions to the truly obscure, neonatal medicine … Continue reading →

Posted in Paediatric haematology, Platelet disorders, Transfusion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Case 21 – summary

Posted on 06/04/2014 by

This case highlighted a number of important issues: 1) The differential diagnosis of thrombocytopenia associated with pregnancy Working out why a pregnant or post partum patient is thrombocytopenic can be difficult.  A number of conditions can cause thrombocytopenia to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Anaemia, Platelet disorders, Related to other specialities, Transfusion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment