Abstract
A 48-year-old female presented a bleeding tendency due to thrombocytopenia (7000/μ1) in August 1990. She was diagnosed as having idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and splenectomy was carried out in May, 1991. Her peripheral platelet count increased to the normal level after that, and she was followed up at our hospital regularly in healthy condition.
But, skin eruptions appeared transciently in August 1995, and a recurrent, persistent cough like chronic bronchitis bothered her from June 1996. She suffered from herpes zoster of the right trigeminal nerve in sudden, and had hospitalization in December 1998.
Her chest X-ray film presented the bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy on admission, so several further examinations were done. As results, she was proved to be a human T-cell leukemia virus-type I (HTLV-I) carrier, and biopsy spacimens of her left upper-lung established the diagnosis of sarcoidosis.
The clinical process of HTLV-I infection, ITP, and sarcoidosis in this case makes us take it into consideration that the pathophysiological mechanism of ITP might have a possible etiological relationship with HTLV-I infection, which can be responsible for the increased antiplatelet T helper lymphocyte reactivity in patients with ITP.
