RESEARCH ARTICLE


Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura Presenting as Unprovoked Gingival Hemorrhage: a Case Report



Mehmet V Bal *, 1, Cenker Z Koyuncuoglu 2, Işıl Saygun 1
1 1Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Department of Periodontology, Ankara, Turkey
2 2Istanbul Aydin University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Periodontology, Istanbul, Turkey


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Creative Commons License
© Bal et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Department of Periodontology, Etlik Street, Ankara, 06018 Turkey; Tel: 00903123046037-1445; Fax: 00903123046020; E-mail: vehbibal@hotmail.com


Abstract

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura is an autoimmune disease characterized by auto-antibody induced platelet destruction and reduced platelet production, leading to low blood platelet count. In this case report, the clinical diagnose of a patient with immune thrombocytopenic purpura and spontaneous gingival hemorrhage by a dentist is presented. The patient did not have any systemic disease that would cause any spontaneous hemorrhage. The patient was referred to a hematologist urgently and her thrombocyte number was found to be 2000/μL. Other test results were in normal range and immune thrombocytopenic purpura diagnose was verified. Then hematological treatment was performed and patient’s health improved without further problems. Hematologic diseases like immune thrombocytopenic purpura, in some cases may appear firstly in the oral cavity and dentists must be conscious of unexplained gingival hemorrhage. In addition, the dental treatment of immune thrombocytopenic purpura patients must be planned with a hematologist.

Keywords: Autoimmune disease, dental care, gingival hemorrhage, haematologic diseases, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, platelet destruction.