Thrombocytopoenia followed by pulmonary embolism

Key words: Thrombocytopoenia, Pulmonary embolism, Anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome

The paper describes the case of a 17-year-old girl presenting with an initial diagnosis of severe idiopathic thrombocytopoenic purpura with negative ANA and positive Coombs test. After a first phase characterised by thrombocytopeonia with haemorrhagic manifestations, she developed a thrombotic event (pulmonary embolism) with a normal number of platelets, positive LAC, and anti-cardiolipin and anti-beta2-glycoprotein antibodies. Eventually, an anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome was diagnosed. The described case shows the complexity of a disease that resembles systemic lupus erythematosus but does not have the criteria to be diagnosed as such.