[Treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and thrombocytopenia associated with the HIV virus using anti-Rhesus immunoglobulins].

Fourteen Rhesus-positive patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or thrombocytopenia associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were treated with intravenous Rhesus antibodies. The mean total dose was 6,800 micrograms administered over a 3 to 6 days' period. A significant rise in platelet count was observed in 13 of the 14 Rhesus-positive patients, but not in 3 Rhesus-negative patients used as controls. This rise was usually transient, lasting less than 3 weeks, but it persisted for more than 3 months in 2 cases. Treatment was well tolerated; transient signs of haemolysis appeared in 11 patients who did not require transfusion. Rhesus antibodies are quick-acting, the number of platelets being doubled as early as the second day of treatment. Interaction between antibody-coated red blood cells and macrophages is a possible mode of action and a feasible therapeutic approach in selected patients with autoimmune of HIV-mediated thrombocytopenia.