Epidural anesthesia for labor and delivery in a patient with May-Hegglin anomaly: a case report

We report a case of May-Hegglin anomaly (MHA) in a woman who had a successful labor and delivery under epidural anesthesia. MHA is an inherited thrombocytopenia easily misdiagnosed as idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Early and appropriate diagnosis of MHA during pregnancy is essential for optimal maternal and neonatal delivery outcome. Additionally, it can avoid unnecessary diagnostic studies, such as bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, and even harmful therapies with corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, and splenectomy. Consequently, the most serious impacts of this disease are iatrogenic managements due to misdiagnosis. It seems that in patients with MHA, adequate clinical coagulation is far more dependent on adequate platelet function than any particular platelet count. The diagnosis of MHA may pose a challenge for clinicians managing pregnant women with thrombocytopenia.