AUTOIMMUNE THROMBOCYTOPENIC PURPURA IN A SPLENECTOMIZED PATIENT

Splenectomy remains a treatment in patients with autoimmune thrombocyt openic purpura (ATP) who fail to respond adequately to conservative tr eatment. We report on a 78-year-old man who developed ATP after splene ctomy performed six years earlier for iatrogenic injury to the spleen during hemicolectomy, Incidentally, he suffered from colonic and prost atic malignancies. To our knowledge, such a case has not been reported before. We discuss the mechanism of thrombocytopenia in ATP and its a ssociation with various malignancies.