Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
J Viral Hepat. 2011 Jan;18(1):8-10. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2010.01368.x.
Thrombocytopenia is likely the most common haematological abnormality that can be diagnosed inpatients affected by chronic liver disease. In these patients,the presence of thrombocytopenia may have significant clinical implications. In fact, it can be a limiting factor when considering invasive procedures and may hamper the out come of antiviral therapy with interferon. The prevalence of decreased platelet count in patients with chronic hepatitis Chas been assessed in various studies that evaluated heterogenous patient populations and used various platelet count threshold to identify thrombocytopenia. This review shows that the prevalence of thrombocytopenia in these patients is variable and mainly depends upon the severity of the underlying liver disease and the criterion used to identify this haematological abnormality. Furthermore, the results of this epidemiological review provide an indirect evidence that confirms the multiplicity of aetiological factors underlying the pathophysiology of thrombocytopenia in chronic hepatitis C patients. Lastly, this study shows that up to 25% of patients treated with interferon may develop some degree of thrombocytopenia, and this may be associated with decreased sustained virological response rates.
血小板减少症很可能是最常见的血液学异常，可以在患有慢性肝病的住院患者中诊断出来。在这些患者中，血小板减少症的存在可能具有重要的临床意义。事实上，当考虑侵入性程序时，它可能是一个限制因素，并且可能会影响干扰素抗病毒治疗的结果。已经在评估异质患者人群并使用各种血小板计数阈值来识别血小板减少症的各种研究中评估了慢性丙型肝炎患者血小板计数减少的患病率。这篇综述表明，这些患者中血小板减少症的患病率是可变的，主要取决于潜在肝病的严重程度和用于识别这种血液学异常的标准。此外，这项流行病学综述的结果提供了间接证据，证实了慢性丙型肝炎患者血小板减少症的病理生理学存在多种病因因素。最后，这项研究表明，多达 25%接受干扰素治疗的患者可能会出现某种程度的血小板减少症，这可能与持续病毒学应答率降低有关。
