A Randomized Study of IVIG vs. IVIG With High Dose Methylprednisolone in Childhood ITP.

Childhood immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) is a disorder characterized by the production of antibodies against platelets, resulting in enhanced destruction of platelets. Most children with ITP present with low platelet counts (PC) but minimal bleeding. Very rarely a child may present with a severe life-threatening bleed, such as a bleed in the head. In this case it is very important that the PC be raised as quickly as possible. The combination of corticosteroids and intravenous gammaglobulin (IVIG) is commonly used in the management of such severe bleeding in children with ITP to quickly raise the PC and yet this treatment combination has not been tested against using IVIG alone. If it is shown that the combination of these agents does result in a quicker rise in PC then when using IVIG alone would support the use of this combination therapy in emergency situations. As we can not ethically conduct this study in patients with life-threatening bleeds, we plan to study patients with ITP and PC less than 20 X 109/L, but without life threatening bleeding. Eligible patients will be randomized to one of these 2 regimens (IVIG + placebo or IVIG + IV corticosteroids). The study is designed as a double-blind trial, where the patient or the treating physician will not be aware of the regimen that a patient is randomized to. PC\'s will be measured as a surrogate measure of bleeding risk; bleeding scores (a score generated by observing patients for bleeding symptoms) will be used to grade bleeding severity, and adverse effects to treatment will be monitored by the means of questionnaires throughout the study.