Treatment strategy and perioperative risk in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura undergoing cardiac surgery

Patients suffering from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura undergoing card iac surgery with extracorporeal circulation may be at increased risk for po stoperative bleeding complications. Therefore, different treatment strategi es, such as conservative treatment, splenectomy, transfusion of platelet co ncentrates and therapy with immunoglobulins have been proposed. We report o n our experiences with preoperative immunoglobulin treatment in selected pa tients with special regard on the optimal dosage.