Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in Ethiopian children: clinical findings and response to therapy.

This retrospective study provides information on the clinical findings and response to therapy in Ethiopian children with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Forty-nine cases of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura admitted to the teaching hospital, Ethio-Swedish Children's Hospital (ESCH) in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia between January 1982 and December 1993 were studied. Among these were 31 females and 18 males with a female to male ratio of 1.9:1. The age range was three to 12 years with a mean of seven years. The commonest presenting clinical features were petechiae, epistaxis, gingival and gastro-intestinal bleeding. Twenty-nine patients were treated with prednisolone, out of whom, 27 attained absolute remission. Twenty patients were observed and managed conservatively and attained spontaneous remission. One child went on to develop chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and underwent splenectomy after immunosuppressive treatment failure, while another child is still being followed up with recurrent episodes of thrombocytopenia and epistaxis. No mortality was noted in the review of these series of patients.