Thyroid Disease in Patients with Immune Thrombocytopenia

immune-mediated hypothyroidism (Hashimoto thyroiditis) would suggest that there is more than casual relationship between autoimmune thyroid disease and ITP. Although this association between thyroid disease and ITP is well documented, many questions remain regarding true prevalence and whether the presence of thyroid disease in patients with ITP defines a different subset of patients that may impact its management. This is due to the medical literature regarding thyroid disease and ITP being composed mostly of case reports and small retrospective studies. A strong association between other systemic autoimmune diseases and autoimmune thyroid diseases is also well documented. 3–5 Therefore, the combination of autoimmune thyroid disease and ITP could reflect a more significant defect in the immune self-tolerance of these patients compared with those who have primary ITP alone. 6 Such defects may characterize an ITP patient population as more refractory to standard ITP therapy. 6