Thrombocytopenia is a disease in which the level of platelets in the blood decreases. Basically, it begins suddenly, is asymptomatic and prone to protracted flow, but in some cases it still has manifestations.
The most common symptoms of thrombocytopenia
Most often thrombocytopenia is observed with such symptoms:
- bleeding gums ;
- tendency to bruising;
- frequent nasal bleeding;
- difficulty stopping bleeding even after minor damage to the skin or when removing teeth;
- profuse and prolonged bleeding with menstruation in women;
- presence of blood in urine or feces.
Almost all people with this ailment under external examination can notice petechiae. These are red, flat spots on the skin of the shins and feet the size of a pinhead. They can be located separately, and can form groups. Also, the symptoms of thrombocytopenia are a large amount of hematomas of varying degrees of maturity on other parts of the body. Because of them, the skin can even acquire a patchy appearance.
The patient often has internal and external bleeding and hemorrhage. They are painless, but in time they are joined by the symptoms of anemia:
- decreased vitality;
- general weakness;
- dizziness;
- increased fatigue.
The main symptoms of drug and autoimmune thrombocytopenia include the fact that when cuts the blood does not fold. Even after minor damage for a long time, the blood does not stop, and then large hematomas appear that take on a diffuse character.
Ecchymosis is another sign of thrombocytopenia. In appearance, they differ little from ordinary bruises, but these are serious bleeding in the skin. In diameter, they are more than 3 mm and can change color from dark purple to yellow-green.
Another characteristic symptom of a low level of platelets in the body is the frequent occurrence of hematomas in those parts of the body that are most stressed, or those that are more exposed to gravity - the legs and stomach.
It is worth noting one of the most dangerous symptoms of thrombocytopenia - a hemorrhage in the brain. This phenomenon endangers not only health, but also the life of the patient.
Diagnosis of thrombocytopenia
The main way to diagnose thrombocytopenia is a blood test . It is with his help that you can determine the level of platelets in the blood. Normally their index is 150-450 thousand cells. If there are deviations from this norm, then a survey should be performed, which allows excluding secondary thrombocytopenia. A very large number of diseases that occur with thrombocytopenia, have bright symptoms, so in such cases, differential diagnosis is not very difficult. In the first place, this applies to severe oncological pathologies, systemic diseases
Often, other tests are performed with thrombocytopenia, for example, bone marrow puncture or immunological tests. In addition, after a medical examination and a blood test, a patient can be assigned laboratory tests to identify autoantibodies to platelets. It is not necessary for thrombocytopenia and a biochemical blood test, but it is best done if the clinical symptoms of the disease have been found in your next of kin. Any deviation of the indicators from the norm will force the specialist to conduct an additional examination, drawing attention to a specific problem that has already been identified.