Purpura due to aspirin-induced platelet dysfunction aggravated by drinkingalcohol

We report a rare case of prominent purpura induced by aspirin and enhanced by alcohol. A 44-year-old woman presented with a history of generalized pur pura. She drank alcohol once or twice a week and regularly took an analgesi c preparation, containing aspirin and acetaminophen, for alleviation of hea daches. When purpura was evident the patient's liver function was within no rmal limits and her coagulation time was normal but her bleeding time was p rolonged. Red blood cell, white blood cell and platelet counts were normal but a poor response to platelet agonists demonstrated platelet dysfunction. After stopping the analgesic and abstaining from alcohol for 5 days, plate let aggregation, in response to the agonists, returned to normal and purpur a disappeared. When the patient took further doses of the analgesic prepara tion for 3 days for headache relief, but did not drink alcohol, platelet ag gregation was again abnormal but purpura was only slight.