Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Photos

Although Ethan was acquiring quite a few new bruises. This was the first of the "big" ones. The first doctor we saw had never seen anything like it but still dismissed this as normal bruising and sent us home.

Bruising ~

With ITP the blood doesn't clot and makes you more susceptible to bruising. When the platelets are very low spontaneous bruising (like these) can appear.

Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
(ITP)

Text and photographs may not be used without prior permission and are copyright of the site owners (unless otherwise noted).
© Copyright 2006 Sheila Curtis

Bleeding ~

A platelet count of under 50 really puts you at increased risk of bleeding. Again, as the count lowers you are at risk of spontaneous bleeding, which is what happened with Ethan's eye.
The following 3 photos show how it progressed.

Petechiae ~

This is the name given to the rash that can also appear. They are tiny purplish pin point dots that usually appear on the legs and arms but can be anywhere. It is caused by bleeding under the skin.

OK, this doesn't look nice. It seemed more of an inconvenience to Ethan who was blissfully unaware of exactly what was going on. Just to prove this I have included a pic of him smiling and also one of him with the remote control. I think having the remote to himself was the highlight of his hospital stay:)

It seems that the symptoms can vary a lot from each individual. Not everyone will bleed or get the rash, for example.

Learning to recognise these signs will help know when the blood count is low and what activities to limit. It will also give you an indication of when further treatment may need to be found.

Everyone in our family is used to me snapping away with my camera. It is not unusual for me to always be taking photos and Ethan see's this as perfectly normal. Having said that some of these photo's were taken without him realising. Including this one to the right:))

This was another one that started. They started as a tiny little turquoise coloured dot and then spread.

3 days later this bruise on the left looked as below.

This is a photo of my dear friend Cindy with Ethan.

This photo shows the more generalised "normal" bruising that we all know. Ethan developed bruising under his armpits from where we lifted him and also in the crooks of the inside of his elbows, this from his normal joint movement. He even had bruises on the soles of his feet.

An unusual characteristic of this bruising (at least for Ethan), is that it is not sore and causes no discomfort. I am grateful for that:)

These photos might help illustrate a little the effects of ITP. Remember that Ethan had chicken pox at the time of his ITP emerging. The rash is quite different to the spots that you see for example on the first 2 photos.

Petechiae ~

This is the name given to the rash that can also appear. They are tiny purplish pin point dots that usually appear on the legs and arms but can be anywhere. It is caused by bleeding under the skin.