Childhood thrombocytopenia associated with Graves disease is distinct from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

The authors report a case of thrombocytopenia in a 10-year-old Chinese girl who was also found to have Graves disease 6 months later. The clinical, hematologic, and bone marrow features were indistinguishable from chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, but the patient's platelet counts were normalized concurrently with the control of thyrotoxicosis with carbimazole treatment. Childhood thrombocytopenia associated with autoimmune thyroid disease is a rarely reported condition and its management differs from that of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.