[Immune thrombocytopenia in Hodgkin's disease]

Thrombocytopenic purpura of the idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) type is an unusual and poorly documented complication of Hodgkin's disease. In an eight year period, three patients out of 140 with Hodgkin's disease developed thrombocytopenia; two of them presented a clinical picture undistinguishable from classic ITP. In both platelet antibody could be demonstrated. The third patient developed thrombocytopenia during an acute exacerbation of the underlying disease. Successful therapy of thrombocytopenia was achieved by methylprednisolone alone in one case and by cyclophosphamide in combination with methylprednisolone in the other two cases. These case reports demonstrate again that thrombocytopenia in Hodgkin's disease take place in active phases as well as in periods of complete remission; in the latter thrombocytopenia may reflect a part of immunological imbalance closely related to the pathophysiological background of Hodgkin's disease.