Devastated

Our family member, healthy, no medications, exercised, no smoking, no drinking, had a mild fever of 100.5 for a few days following a cold and fatigue. It spiked to 102. Went to E.R. and found to have critically low platelets - 3000, bleeding from nose and rectum. Cat scan and sonogram normal. Was admitted, given platelet transfusions, blood transfusions, steroids and gammaglobulin Doctors guessed I.T.P, , Epstein Barr Virus or leukemia. I now know that I.T.P. is a disease of exclusion. Bone marrow test could not be done due to bleeding. He died 5 days after being admitted. Our family is in shock. Comments would be appreciated please.

Sorry to hear your dreadful news R.I.P.

Usually the only way ITP can kill is by cerebral hemorrhage and normally with extremely low platelets <10. ITP is not known to cause a high temperature, something else must have been going on here. Tragic.

I am so sorry for your loss. That was an extreme and unusual incident. A bone marrow biopsy is normally not needed to diagnose ITP; they can usually tell by the blood smear. I am also wondering if something else was going on.