Management of childhood idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: A survey of members of the French Society of Pediatric Hematology and Immunology (SHIP)

Aim of the study. - The purpose of this study was to report in acute childhood idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) the current practices of French paediatric hematologists and to compare them to recent publications of American and British teams. Method. - A questionnaire was sent online to the members of the French Society of Pediatric Hematology/Immunology (SHIP). This questionnaire, adapted from a similar american study conducted in 2001, asked 16 questions based on the clinical presentation of a 5-year-old boy referred for an acute ITP. Results. - 59/123 SHIP members responded to the survey. In response to question regarding initial treatment, 86% of physicians would be given active treatments and only 9% would rarely or never administer any drug. When asked which agent would be used in case of treatment, 68% would choose to prescribe intravenous immunoglobulins and 32% corticosteroids, nobody recommended the use of anti-D immunoglobulins. Furthermore, 83% would usually hospitalize such a child. Conclusion. - Finally, this study allowed us to update the current French management of treating pediatric ITP which is almost comparable among this subset of pediatric hematologists, but showed some discrepancies comparatively to the American and British studies. (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits reserves.