Clinicopathological overview of thrombocytopenia: A retrospective study in tertiary care hospital

Introduction: Thrombocytopenia is not a disease itself, but a subnormal number of platelets in blood and is one of the most common causes of abnormal bleeding. The patient with thrombocytopenia often presents diagnostic and management challenges. The differential diagnosis is broad because the disorders leading to thrombocytopenia are diverse, with failed production at one extreme and the accelerated destruction at the other. Aims and Objective: To highlight and diagnose thrombocytopenia and investigate the cause of thrombocytopenia in our tertiary care center. Materials and Methods: The present study is retrospective, cross sectional study done on screened 389 thrombocytopenia patients which were came to our hematology lab. All patients of proved thrombocytopenia patients were included in the study over a period of 3 years from May 2013 to April 2016. Pseudo-thrombocytopenia patients were excluded from the study. All these patients were investigated in a systemic manner, causes of thrombocytopenia were ascertained and data was analyzed. Results: The most common affected age group of thrombocytopenia was 3rd decades and 2nd decades respectively with male predominance. The most common cause of thrombocytopenia is anemia, infection, spleenomegaly and alcoholism. Dimorphic anemia, malaria and HIV are the most etiology of anemia and infection respectively. Conclusion: Thrombocytopenia is root cause of abnormal bleeding in many cases. Importance of early and prompt diagnosis of thrombocytopenia is always warranted as treatment differs depending upon the etiology. Thrombocytopenia is multifactorial and a finding that may result from various diseases and clinicopathological approach is important in these cases.