Real-life management of primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in adult patients and adherence to practice guidelines.
Very few data exist on the management of adult patients diagnosed with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). The objectives of this study were to describe the diagnostic and treatment patterns for ITP and to compare the findings to recent ITP guidelines. We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of adult ITP patients diagnosed with primary ITP between January 2011 and June 2012 and examined whether management strategies were consistent or not with eight recent guideline-recommended practices. Overall, median age at the diagnosis of the disease (n = 101) was 58 years and median platelet count 12 × 10(9)/L with 75.2 % of patients having symptoms of ITP. The study perceived two major shortcomings in the diagnostic approach: (1) failure to perform peripheral blood film examination in 22.8 % of patients, a test that is mandatory by all guidelines, and (2) ordinary bone marrow assessment in more than half of the patients at diagnosis (50.5 %), a test not routinely recommended by guidelines. Low appropriateness in therapeutic management of patients included (1) unjustified use of intravenous immunoglobulin in the absence of bleeding in 54.8 % of patients and (2) splenectomy not being deferred until 6-12 months from diagnosis (median 161 days). Data also reflect a trend towards the early use of thrombopoietin receptor agonists in the treatment of patients who are refractory to any first-line therapy. We have recognized important areas of inapropriateness in the diagnostic and therapeutic management of adult ITP patients. Compliance with established guidelines should be encouraged in order to improve patient outcomes.
Hospital Morales Meseguer, IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain. mllozano@um.es.
María Luisa
ML
Lozano
Hospital Morales Meseguer, IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.|Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
N
N
Revilla
Hospital General de Burgos, Burgos, Spain.
T J
TJ
Gonzalez-Lopez
Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.
S
S
Novelli
Hospital de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
J R
JR
González-Porras
Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
B
B
Sánchez-Gonzalez
Hospital de San Pedro de Alcántara, Cáceres, Spain.
N
N
Bermejo
Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, Santiago, Spain.
S
S
Pérez
Hospital General de Alicante, Alicante, Spain.
F J
FJ
Lucas
Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain.
M T
MT
Álvarez
Hospital de Sagunto, Valencia, Spain.
M J
MJ
Arilla
Hospital Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Gran Canaria, Spain.
M
M
Perera
Hospital General de Tarragona Joan XXIII, Tarragona, Spain.
J
J
do Nascimento
Hospital de Jerez, Jerez, Spain.
R M
RM
Campos
Hospital Virgen de la Salud, Toledo, Spain.
L F
LF
Casado
Hospital Morales Meseguer, IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
V
V
Vicente
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D016553:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
Guidelines; ITP; Primary immune thrombocytopenia; Real-life practice; Splenectomy; Thrombopoietin receptor agonists