Thrombocytopenia - Neonatal Thrombocytopenia

Neonatal Thrombocytopenia

Thrombocytopenia affects a few percent of newborns, and its prevalence in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) is high. Normally, its course is mild and it resolves without consequences. Most of the cases of thrombocytopenia affect preterm birth infants and are results of placental insufficiency and/or fetal hypoxia. The other causes are less frequent, e.g. alloimmune, genetic, autoimmune, infection, DIC.

Thrombocytopenia that starts after the first 72 hours since birth is often the result of underlying sepsis or necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). In the case of infection the PCR tests may be useful for rapid pathogen identification and detection of antibiotic resistance genes. The possible pathogens may be fungus, bacteria and viruses, for example: Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Rubella virus, HIV, Staphylococcus sp., Enterococcus sp., Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS), Streptococcus viridans, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Yersinia enterocolitica, Borrelia burgdorferi, Candida sp., Toxoplasma gondii. The severity of thrombocytopenia might be correlated with the type of a pathogen; some research indicates that the most severe cases are related to fungal or gram-negative bacterial infection. The pathogen may be transmitted during birth or prior to it, but also by breast feeding. or during transfusion

The interleukin-11 is being investigated as a potential drug for aiding thrombocytopenia management, especially in the cases of sepsis or necrotising enterocolitis (NEC).