Immune thrombocytopenia: A rare presenting manifestation of tuberculosis

We report the case of a 49 year-old male who presented with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)-induced epistaxis and generalized purpura, During the same hospitalization the patient was also found to have clinical, microbiological, histological, and roentgenographic evidence of disseminated mycobacterial tuberculosis (TB). The hematological and infectious abnormalities, which did not respond to high-dose intravenous corticosteroids end immune globulin (IVIg), resolved after anti-tuberculous treatment. Herein we review the characteristics of this rarely documented association. Am. J. Hematol. 67:139-143, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.