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Oseltamivir as rescue therapy for persistent, chronic, or refractory immune thrombocytopenia: a case series and review of the literature

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Abstract

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease that results from antibody-mediated platelet destruction and impaired platelet production. Novel therapies have emerged in the last decade, but 15–20% of patients will relapse or fail and require further therapy. We performed a prospective, single-arm intervention study on seven patients with chronic, persistent, or refractory ITP from the Hospital Universitario “Dr. José E González”, in Monterrey, Mexico between 2015 and 2019. Eligible patients received oral oseltamivir 75 mg twice daily for 5 days and were followed up for six months. Most patients received a median of three distinct therapies (range 2–6). Four patients (57.1%) received combined therapy. The median time for any response was 55.5 days (range = 14–150). All patients responded at some point in time (ORR = 100%, six had a proportion of loss of response [PR], and one achieved [CR]). Six months after oseltamivir administration, three patients (42.9%) maintained a response, and one patient had a CR (14.3%). Oseltamivir was well tolerated with a good overall response rate and was useful for treating chronic ITP. We observed an initial increase in the number of platelets; however, this response was not maintained.

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Funding

The research was financed by the Hematology Service of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, México.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hematology Service, Hospital Universitario “Dr. José Eleuterio González”, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León, Francisco I. Madero and Avenida Gonzalitos, Mitras Centro, Z.P. 64460, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

    Perla R. Colunga-Pedraza, Samantha P. Peña-Lozano, Fernando De la Garza-Salazar, Julia E. Colunga-Pedraza, Andrés Gómez-De León, Paola Santana-Hernández, Olga G. Cantú-Rodríguez & David Gómez-Almaguer

  2. Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitario “Dr. José Eleuterio González”, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico

    Ernesto Sánchez-Rendón

Authors
  1. Perla R. Colunga-Pedraza
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  2. Samantha P. Peña-Lozano
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  3. Ernesto Sánchez-Rendón
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  4. Fernando De la Garza-Salazar
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  5. Julia E. Colunga-Pedraza
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  7. Paola Santana-Hernández
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  8. Olga G. Cantú-Rodríguez
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  9. David Gómez-Almaguer
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Correspondence to David Gómez-Almaguer.

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Colunga-Pedraza, P.R., Peña-Lozano, S.P., Sánchez-Rendón, E. et al. Oseltamivir as rescue therapy for persistent, chronic, or refractory immune thrombocytopenia: a case series and review of the literature. J Thromb Thrombolysis 54, 360–366 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11239-022-02651-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11239-022-02651-3

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