Murugan Naveena L, Mensah Richard, Singh Atul
Internal Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Charleston, USA.
Internal Medicine, Charleston Area Medical Center, Charleston, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Jan 18;17(1):e77623. doi: 10.7759/cureus.77623. eCollection 2025 Jan.
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare form of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia with high rates of mortality without treatment. Common risk factors for TTP include immunosuppression, pregnancy, and female gender. However, several case reports show that TTP may have an association with autoimmune conditions such as Sjögren's syndrome (SS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We present a similar case of a 41-year-old female with a past medical history of RA, SLE, and SS, who arrived at the hospital with hematuria, flank pain, slow speech, and altered mental status. Based on her presentation, there were concerns for TTP, hemolytic uremic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, or sepsis secondary to urinary tract infection. After diagnosis was narrowed to TTP, treatment was initiated for TTP with plasmapheresis, methylprednisolone, and rituximab infusions prior to receiving diagnostic confirmation due to high clinical suspicion. Upon further workup, her autoimmune and immunology panels returned several days post-admission with low ADAMTS13 activity, confirming the TTP diagnosis. Her autoimmune conditions were also confirmed for SS, RA, and SLE based on positive serology for anti-SSA/Ro antibodies, anti-CCP antibodies, and speckled ANA, respectively. With treatment, the platelet counts increased, and the symptoms present at admission resolved over a prolonged hospital course. Initiating treatment for TTP should be based on findings of clinical and routine laboratory testing rather than confirmatory test results due to the delay in receiving results, such as the ADAMTS13 level. In patients with a history of autoimmune disease, the association between TTP and autoimmune diseases can help formulate a clinical diagnosis of TTP early in the hospital course, allowing for treatment initiation and decreased mortality.
血栓性血小板减少性紫癜(TTP)是一种罕见的微血管病性溶血性贫血,若不治疗死亡率很高。TTP的常见危险因素包括免疫抑制、妊娠和女性性别。然而,几例病例报告显示,TTP可能与自身免疫性疾病有关,如干燥综合征(SS)、类风湿关节炎(RA)和系统性红斑狼疮(SLE)。我们报告了一例类似病例,一名41岁女性,既往有RA、SLE和SS病史,因血尿、侧腹痛、言语迟缓及精神状态改变入院。根据其临床表现,怀疑为TTP、溶血性尿毒症综合征、肾小球肾炎或尿路感染继发的败血症。在诊断缩小到TTP后,由于临床高度怀疑,在获得诊断确认之前就开始用血浆置换、甲泼尼龙和利妥昔单抗输注治疗TTP。进一步检查后,入院几天后她的自身免疫和免疫学检查结果显示ADAMTS13活性低,证实了TTP诊断。基于抗SSA/Ro抗体、抗CCP抗体和斑点ANA的血清学阳性,她患SS、RA和SLE等自身免疫性疾病也得到了证实。经过治疗,血小板计数增加,入院时出现的症状在漫长的住院过程中逐渐缓解。由于获得检查结果(如ADAMTS13水平)会有延迟,启动TTP治疗应基于临床和常规实验室检查结果而非确诊检查结果。对于有自身免疫性疾病史的患者,TTP与自身免疫性疾病之间的关联有助于在住院早期做出TTP的临床诊断,从而能够开始治疗并降低死亡率。