title: Chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura in children: a survey of the canadian experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in children is a common pediatric bleeding disorder with heterogeneous manifestations and a natural history that is not fully understood. To better understand the natural history of chronic ITP and detect response trends and outcomes of therapy, we conducted a 10-year retrospective survey of children from age 1 to 18 years with a diagnosis of chronic ITP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data on 198 patients from 8 Canadian Pediatric Hematology/Oncology centers were analyzed. The majority of patients were female (58%), and were previously diagnosed with acute (primary) ITP (85%). The age at diagnosis of chronic ITP ranged from 1.1 to 17.2 years with a mean of 8.2+/-4.4 years. Ninety percent of patients received some form of treatment. Untreated patients had a higher mean platelet count at diagnosis of chronic ITP (P=0.009) despite similarities in mean age at first presentation and mean duration of follow-up. Thirty-four (17%) patients underwent splenectomy. Splenectomized patients tended to be significantly older, had a lower mean platelet count at diagnosis of chronic ITP, and had a longer duration of follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results from this study are consistent with published reports.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Stollery Children's Hospital, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada. mfb10@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belletrutti
authors.forename: Kaiser
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barnard
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Blanchette
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Luke
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010976:Platelet Count; D016553:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D012737:Sex Factors; D013156:Splenectomy