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Eltrombopag in the Treatment of Immune Thrombocytopenia: Two-Center Experience from Istanbul

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Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a disease caused by autoantibodies forming against platelets and T cell dysregulation and is characterized by platelet count falling below 100 × 109/L. Corticosteroids remain as the first-line of treatment, but in the light of recent developments, thrombopoietin receptor agonists are gradually replacing splenectomy in steroid-dependent or refractory patients. In this study, it was aimed to retrospectively evaluate the efficacy, safety and side-effect profile of eltrombopag treatment for chronic ITP. A total of 23 chronic ITP patients treated with eltrombopag from two health institutions in Istanbul were evaluated retrospectively. Overall response rate (partial or complete) was 87%, complete response rate was 78.3%, and the median time from treatment until reaching platelet counts above 50 × 109/L was 14 days (min–max: 4–126). Treatment was discontinued in four patients due to persistent response, two of these were still fully responsive. During treatment, one patient developed basal cell carcinoma, and another developed chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Although its long-term side effects are not yet known, eltrombopag is a very effective treatment option in ITP and may provide favorable outcomes in patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Medical Science University Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Darulaceze Cad. No:27 Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey

    Esma Evrim Dogan, Naciye Demirel, Demet Aydin & Rafet Eren

  2. Department of Hematology, Medical Science University Kartal Lutfu Kirdar City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Esra Turan Erkek

  3. Department of Hematology, Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

    Tugrul Elverdi

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Science University Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Sule Celik Kamaci & Ugur Ciftci

Authors
  1. Esma Evrim Dogan
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  2. Esra Turan Erkek
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  3. Tugrul Elverdi
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  4. Sule Celik Kamaci
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  5. Ugur Ciftci
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  6. Naciye Demirel
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  7. Demet Aydin
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  8. Rafet Eren
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Contributions

EED, Concept, Supervision, Resources, Writing Manuscript; ETE, Concept, Supervision, Resources, Writing Manuscript; TE, Design, Literature Search; SCK, Data collection and processing, Analysis and interpretation, UC, Data collection and processing, Analysis and interpretation; ND, Materials, Analysis and interpretation; DA, Materials, Analysis and interpretation; RE, Literature search, design.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Esma Evrim Dogan.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Informed written consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical Approval

The study was approved by Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Medical Science University Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital.

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Dogan, E.E., Turan Erkek, E., Elverdi, T. et al. Eltrombopag in the Treatment of Immune Thrombocytopenia: Two-Center Experience from Istanbul. Indian J Hematol Blood Transfus 38, 327–332 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12288-021-01462-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12288-021-01462-5

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