SEARCH:   Advanced

Blood, 1 August 2005, Vol. 106, No. 3, pp. 925-928. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on April 12, 2005; DOI 10.1182/blood-2004-12-4885. This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 2004-12-4885v1 106/3/925    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Galbusera, M. Articles by Remuzzi, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Galbusera, M. Articles by Remuzzi, G. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Next Article  Submitted December 27, 2004 Accepted March 24, 2005 Rituximab prevents recurrence of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: a case report Miriam Galbusera, Elena Bresin, Marina Noris, Sara Gastoldi, Daniela Belotti, Cristina Capoferri, Erica Daina, Paolo Perseghin, Friedrich Scheiflinger, Fadi Fakhouri, Jean-Pierre Grunfeld, Enrico Pogliani, and Giuseppe Remuzzi* Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Clinical Research Center for Rare Diseases, Aldo e Cele Dacco, Ranica, Bergamo, Italy Unit of Hematology, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza, Italy Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion Center, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza, Italy Baxter BioScience, Biomedical Research Center, Orth/Donau, Austria Unit of Nephrology, Hospital Necker, Paris, France Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Clinical Research Center for Rare Diseases, Aldo e Cele Dacco, Ranica, Bergamo, Italy; Unit of Nephrology and Dialysis, Azienda Ospedaliera, Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy * Corresponding author; email: gremuzzi{at}marionegri.it. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare disorder of small vessels that is associated with deficiency of the von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease, ADAMTS-13. The presence of anti-ADAMTS-13 autoantibodies is considered a factor predisposing to relapses. Despite close monitoring and intensive plasma treatment, in these patients acute episodes are still associated with substantial morbidity and mortality rates and the optimal therapeutic option should rather be prevention of relapses. This study was conducted in a patient with recurrent TTP due to high titers of ADAMTS-13 inhibitors, who used to have 2 relapses of TTP a year and compared the standard treatment plasma exchange with rituximab. Results documented that plasma exchange had only a small transient effect on ADAMTS-13 activity and inhibitors, on the contrary prophylaxis with rituximab was associated with disappearance of anti-ADAMTS-13 antibodies, a progressive recovery of protease activity, and allowed the patient to maintain a disease-free state for more than 2 year follow-up. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? This article has been cited by other articles: J. E. Sadler Von Willebrand factor, ADAMTS13, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura Blood, July 1, 2008; 112(1): 11 - 18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

	Copyright © 2005 by American Society of Hematology         Online ISSN: 1528-0020