What happens if children have thrombocytopenia?

Children are active by nature. When they are outdoors, they may accidentally bump into things and get bruises on their bodies. Parents may not pay much attention to this. If purple and red spots appear on the child's skin and there has been no recent bumps or collisions, parents should press to see if the bruises will fade away. If they do not, it may be caused by thrombocytopenia. Parents need to observe whether their children have other abnormal signs and take them to the hospital for examination if necessary.

Low platelet count in children is an autoimmune bleeding disease, clinically called thrombocytopenic purpura, also known as thrombocytopenia. To solve the problem of low platelets, we must first know what causes low platelets in children. Different causes require different treatments. Do you know what causes thrombocytopenic purpura?

1. Platelet-related antibodies

Antiplatelet antibodies are present in the serum of patients with chronic ITP. If the plasma of chronic ITP patients is transfused to normal people, the platelets of normal people may be reduced; if the platelets of normal people are transfused to ITP patients, the transfused platelets will be destroyed in a short time.

2. Megakaryocyte or mature disorder

In life, what are the causes of thrombocytopenic purpura? Because platelets and megakaryocytes have common antigens, anti-platelet antibodies can also inhibit bone marrow megakaryocytes, causing their maturation disorders, thereby affecting platelet production and causing thrombocytopenia.

3. Platelet destruction mechanism

The average lifespan of normal platelets is 7 to 11 days, while the lifespan of platelets in ITP patients is 230 minutes. Because the spleen contains a large number of macrophages that can produce high concentrations of anti-platelet antibodies, and slow blood flow can hinder the destruction of platelets by antibodies, the spleen becomes the main site of platelet destruction. The liver and kidney medulla are also sites of platelet destruction.

4. Other factors

Effect of estrogen: The chronic type is more common in older women and is prone to relapse during pregnancy, suggesting that estrogen may play a certain role in the onset of this disease. It may be that sex hormones increase the ability of macrophages to phagocytize and destroy platelets; antibodies damage capillary endothelial cells, causing increased capillary permeability and aggravating bleeding.

The above are the causes of thrombocytopenia, many of which are caused by genetic factors, so pre-pregnancy examination is very important. In addition, since children with this disease find it difficult to control their emotions, in order to prevent children from crying more and causing seizures, adults can comfort them by touching them, telling stories, etc.