title: Immune thrombocytopenia: epidemiological and clinical features of 216 patients in northwestern Turkey.
abstract: We evaluated the clinical features, treatment modalities, treatment responses, and prognosis of our patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Furthermore, we estimated the frequency of ITP in the Thrace region of Turkey. Two hundred sixteen patients diagnosed with ITP between 2000 and 2012 at our center were retrospectively evaluated. Patients' clinical features, treatments, and responses to treatment modalities were recorded. The mean annual incidence of ITP was 2.92/100,000 (95%CI: 1.57-4.27). The overall prevalence of ITP was 35.1/100,000 (95%CI: 30.3-39.8). The administration of first-line therapy resulted in complete remission (CR) in 76.5 % of patients and partial remission (PR) in 13.6 %. After 5 years, 33 % of patients who were responsive to first-line therapy were still in relapse-free remission. Of patients who were given second-line therapy, CR was obtained in 71.3 % and PR in 14.9 %. The duration of relapse-free remission was longer with splenectomy than with steroids (p < 0.001). Five years after splenectomy, 62 % of patients were in relapse-free remission; contrarily, this was lower with steroids (36 % at 5 years). The annual incidence and prevalence of ITP in northwestern Turkey was similar to data from western countries-at the lower limit for some countries. Effective treatment strategies seem to be steroids as first-line therapy and splenectomy in refractory cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Trakya University Medical Faculty, Edirne, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koylu
authors.forename: Gulsum Emel
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Pamuk
authors.forename: Mehmet Sevki
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Uyanik
authors.forename: Muzaffer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Omer Nuri
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Pamuk
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D016553:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult