MRI EVALUATION OF OCCULT HEMORRAGE IN EGYPTIAN CHILDREN WITH IMMUNE THROMBOCYTOPENIA

Abstract

TP is a heterogeneous disorder with a diverse natural history and diverse pattern of treatment response. Patients with ITP may bleed from any site particularly when the platelet count is ≤ 10, 000/µl. The most common types of bleeding include epistaxis, oral bleeding, uterine bleeding (menorragia), and hematuria. ICH is the most devastating complication of ITP in children. Prevention of ICH is the primary goal of ITP treatment. Hemorrhage in ITP patients may also be clinically silent (occult) and thus not readily determined by history and/or physical examination. Brain microbleeds are a radiologic construct visualized through MRI that represent perivascular collections of hemosiderin-laden macrophages and are considered to be silent lesions resulting from previous petechial hemorrhages. These lesions are small (<5 mm in diameter). The aim of this study to investigate the frequency of occult subclinical ICH in Egyptian children with ITP as assessed by MRI and its relation to different disease and patients variables.