Severe thrombocytopenia in iron deficiency anemia

Mild-to-moderate thrombocytopenia has been reported as an occasional finding in patients with iron deficiency. The present case describes a multiparous woman who presented with increased menorrhagia, severe anemia (3.0 g/dl) and thrombocytopenia (9,000 platelets/mm3). Her bone marrow examination showed iron deficiency, megakaryocytopenia, and erythroid hypoplasia but no other evidence of a primary marrow disorder. Her symptoms, the thrombocytopenia and the megakaryocytopenia, resolved with iron replacement. This case demonstrates the profound degree to which thrombopoiesis can be affected in iron deficiency.