ITP Associated With Thyroid Disease

Investigators found that patients diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) often had thyroid disease and treatment of the thyroid condition yielded improvements in ITP, according to a study from Japan.

The authors retrospectively reviewed thyroid function data of 248 patients newly diagnosed with ITP between 2000 and 2019. Of these patients, they reported, 74 patients had thyroid disease, including 13 with Graves disease and 23 Hashimoto's thyroiditis. A further 38 patients were found to have subclinical thyroid disease — 3 with hyperthyroidism and 35 with hypothyroidism. ITP and thyroid disease were concurrently diagnosed in 54 patients.

“Female sex and positivity for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were significantly associated with thyroid diseases,” the authors noted. “Platelet-associated immunoglobulin G (PAIgG) levels in patients with Graves’ disease were higher than those in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.” Patients with thyroid disease more often received administration of thrombopoietin-receptor agonist; however, cumulative incidences of thrombosis and bleeding and overall survival showed no significant difference between patients with and without thyroid disease.

“Treatment for thyroid disease in 22 patients improved thrombocytopenia in 21 patients, especially in 4 patients who were not treated for ITP,” the authors concluded.

—Rebecca Mashaw

Reference:
Ito S, Fujiwara SI, Murahashi R, et al. Clinical association between thyroid disease and immune thrombocytopenia. Clinical Trial Ann Hematol. 2021;100(2):345-352. DOI: 10.1007/s00277-020-04343-5