Cyclical thrombocytopenia with remission during lynestrenol treatment in a woman

A woman of 40 had cyclical thrombocytopenia occurring midway between menstruations, with bruising and platelet counts down to 2000/mm3. The thrombocytopenic episodes disappeared after treatment with lynestrenol was started. The patient's platelets had a functional defect of the "aspirin-like" type. The availability of platelet factor 3 increased when oestrogen was added to platelet-rich plasma from the patient.