Successful treatment of post-transfusion purpura with high dose immunoglobulins after lack of response to plasma exchange.

A 77-year-old woman with post-transfusion purpura failed to respond to two 2.5-litre plasma exchanges with albumin as a replacement fluid. However, intravenous infusion of high-dose human immunoglobulin produced a response within 4 h. It is suggested that plasma exchange and exchange transfusion are effective in this condition mainly because they have allowed large doses of immunoglobulin to be infused in the form of plasma or whole blood.