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All forms of disorders in platelet function or a significant reduction in their number (thrombocytopenia, thrombocytopenia) are characterized by symptoms of hemorrhagic diathesis with prolonged bleeding time. Platelet-induced bleeding disorders due to thrombocytopenia are assumed to be the most common type of all bleeding disorders.
Platelet hemorrhagic flaws and their origins
Platelet haemorrhage can be caused by:
- abnormal activity of the platelets with their usually correct number, i.e. those caused by a defect in their ability to stick together and aggregate (and thus to create a scaffolding for the clot that is formed),
- a reduced number of platelets, i.e. thrombocytopenia and, consequently, their deficiency in the formation of a thrombotic plug, as well as a secondary lack of platelet factors that affect blood clotting.
Types of hemorrhagic discolourations
Among hemorrhagic discolourations we can distinguish:
- essential thrombocytopenia,
- secondary thrombocytopenia.
Essential (primary) thrombocytopenia
Essential thrombocytopenia is characterized by a severe platelet deficiency and the consequences of blood coagulation disorders.
Reasons for formation
Idiopathic thrombocytopenia may result from an inherited tendency for abnormal megakaryocytes to mature and to form platelets. Immunological processes also play a major role in the development of this ailment. Antibodies to the destruction of platelets lead to thrombocytopenia. So how does the destruction of the tiles take place? This can take place in the blood vessels or when loaded platelets enter the spleen where they are destroyed.
Symptoms of primary thrombocytopenia
In addition to the symptoms of hemorrhagic diathesis, primary thrombocytopenia is characterized by:
- enlarged spleen,
- an increase in the number of megakaryocytes and megakaryoblasts in the bone marrow,
- long bleeding time,
- predisposition to small, petechiae on the skin and mucous membranes,
- interstitial bleeding, e.g. into the brain
- hemorrhages (internal or external).
Complications
You may be tempted to say that even small bleeding is more dangerous, but to vital internal organs that destroy their structure and functions (e.g. brain, heart), than much larger external bleeding (e.g. from nose, genital tract or urinary tract) ), the serious effects of which, in the form of even significant body anemia, can be effectively treated symptomatically by supplementing blood in the form of transfusions.
How to heal?
At home, you should limit yourself to taking medications to seal the walls of capillaries. On the other hand, specialist treatment consists in transfusing a platelet suspension, isolated from the blood of healthy people with special equipment – it is often performed as a shield against the necessary surgeries. In addition, doctors recommend the use of drugs that suppress immune reactions and surgical removal of the spleen, which destroys platelets. Such a procedure causes that the number of platelets increases significantly in a relatively short time, and the symptoms of hemorrhagic diathesis slowly disappear.
Secondary (symptomatic) thrombocytopenia
Definition of secondary thrombocytopenia and its symptoms
Secondary thrombocytopenia is a platelet bleeding disorder whose clinical picture is similar to essential thrombocytopenia. However, it is a secondary symptom of other conditions that are accompanied by a platelet deficiency due to:
- lack of megakaryocytes in the bone marrow,
- destruction of bone marrow with chemical products, e.g. solvents, varnishes or pesticides, especially viral substances, e.g. in chickenpox, scarlet fever, measles, infectious mononucleosis,
- destruction of platelet stem cells in the bone marrow due to displacement of hematopoietic tissue from the marrow cavities, e.g. in leukemias,
- damage to the bone marrow (radiation) and disappearance of platelet stem cells,
- high blood-producing effect of an enlarged spleen, e.g. during cirrhosis or after a clot in a splenic vein.
How is secondary thrombocytopenia diagnosed?
As in primary thrombocytopenia, a diagnosis can only be made by a doctor on the basis of laboratory tests and examinations.
How to heal?
Treatment of secondary thrombocytopenia is based on the symptomatic treatment of thrombocytopenic bleeding disorders and measures aimed at eliminating stimuli harmful to the bone marrow. The treatment of diseases which directly or indirectly cause the thrombocytopenia in question is also beneficial.
Prevention of secondary thrombocytopenia
Prophylaxis is more effective in terms of secondary thrombocytopenia than idiopathic thrombocytopenia. Consequently, bone marrow damage, including megakaryocytes that produce platelets, should be avoided. This is important because so far no effective drugs have been invented that would one hundred percent regenerate atrophied or damaged bone marrow.
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