A Descriptive Study of Children with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) Referred to Ahvaz Shafa Hospital from 2010 to 2018

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is the most common cause of acute thrombocytopenia in children, which usually occurs following common viral infections and rarely lead to severe and life-threatening bleeding. The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics and the incidence of ITP among children admitted to Ahwaz Shafa Hospital from 2010 to 2018.

The present study is a descriptive retrospective epidemiological study. The files of ITP patients admitted to Ahvaz Shafa Hospital from 2010 to 2018 were reviewed. Necessary information was collected including age, sex, acute or chronic form of ITP and incidence and the season of occurrence. Data were analyzed by SPSS software.

The medical records of 5128 cases related to patients admitted to Ahvaz Shafa Hospital due to hematological problems were reviewed, of which 997 patients were diagnosed with ITP (19.44%). Out of 997 patients with ITP, 446 (44.7%) were girls and 551 (55.3%) were boys. 790 patients (79.23%) were less than 7 years old. 898 patients (90.1%) had acute ITP and 99 patients (9.9%) had chronic ITP. 275 patients (27.6%) were infected in Spring, 206 patients (20.7%) in Summer, 269 patients (27%) in Autumn and 247 patients (24.8%) in Winter.

The highest incidence of ITP among patients admitted to Ahvaz Shafa Hospital were age under 7 yr, male acute disease and the highest prevalence was in Spring.