Purpura (patient information)

For the WikiDoc page for this topic, click here

Purpura (patient information)

Purpura
Overview
What are the causes?
Diagnosis
Diseases with similar symptoms
When to seek urgent medical care?
Treatment options
Where to find medical care for Purpura?
Purpura On the Web
Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov
Images of Purpura
Videos on Purpura
on Purpura
CDC on Purpura
Purpura in the news
on Purpura
Directions to Hospitals Treating Purpura
Risk calculators and risk factors for Purpura

Editor-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S.,M.D. [1] Phone:617-632-7753; Associate Editor-In-Chief: Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, M.B.B.S.

Overview

Purpura is purple-colored spots and patches that occur on the skin, organs, and in mucus membranes, including the lining of the mouth.

What causes Purpura?

• Nonthrombocytopenic purpuras may be due to:

• Congenital cytomegalovirus
• Congenital rubella syndrome
• Drugs that affect platelet function
• Fragile blood vessels (senile purpura)
• Pressure changes that occur during vaginal childbirth
• Inflammation of the blood vessels (vasculitis), such as Henoch-Schonlein purpura

• Thrombocytopenic purpura may be due to:

• Drugs that prevent platelets from forming
• Hemangioma
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
• Immune neonatal thrombocytopenia (can occur in infants whose mothers have ITP)
• Meningococcemia

When to seek urgent medical care?

Call your doctor for an appointment if you have signs of purpura.

Diagnosis

• Your doctor will examine your skin and ask you questions about your medical history and symptoms, including:

• Is this the first time you have had such spots?
• When did they develop?
• What color are they?
• Do they look like bruises?
• What medications do you take?
• What other medical problems have you had?
• Does anyone in your family have similar spots?
• What other symptoms do you have?

• A skin biopsy may be done.

Diseases with similar symptoms

• Purpura occurs when small blood vessels under the skin leak.

• When purpura spots are very small, they are called petechiae. Large purpura are called ecchymoses.

• Platelets help the blood clot. A person with purpura may have normal platelet counts (nonthrombocytopenic purpuras) or decreased platelet counts (thrombocytopenic purpuras).

Where to find medical care for Purpura?

Directions to Hospitals Treating Purpura

Source

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003232.htm