Four pregnancies in two patients with essential thrombocythaemia--a case report.

INTRODUCTION

We report our experience of 4 pregnancies in 2 patients who had essential thrombocythaemia (ET).

CLINICAL PICTURE: Two patients with ET were managed with a variety of therapeutic approaches including the use of low-dose aspirin, plateletpheresis, hydroxyurea and alpha-interferon in the course of their 4 pregnancies.

TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: One patient had 2 successful pregnancies despite having platelet counts in excess of 1000 x 10(9)/L antenatally. The second patient had an intrauterine fetal death during the third trimester of her first pregnancy but had a successful second pregnancy.

CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Management of ET in pregnancy is still very much individualized. The impact of various treatment modalities on the pregnancy outcome remains to be proven but a favourable pregnancy outcome is possible.