ABSTRACT This case series presents two patients with underlying malignancies who developed thrombocytopenia during hospitalization and were subsequently diagnosed with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). The first case involved a patient with uterine cancer, status post total abdominal hysterectomy, admitted for increasing abdominal girth, who developed new-onset thrombocytopenia, anemia, and minimal hematuria. The second case involved a patient with oligodendroglioma admitted for anemia requiring transfusion, who later developed progressive thrombocytopenia, thrombosis, and schistocytes on peripheral smear. Both patients were managed as TTP with steroid therapy and therapeutic plasma exchange. These cases emphasize the importance of early recognition and prompt treatment of thrombotic microangiopathies in patients with malignancy to reduce associated morbidity and mortality.
Herrera et al. (Fri,) studied this question.