Abstract
Recently reports have increasingly been reported that the eradication of H. pylori is effective for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) with H. pylori infection. In this paper we present a case of gastric cancer infected with H. pylori in which distal gastrectomy resulted in improvement of ITP.
A 77-year-old man admitted to the hospital because of gastric cancer was diagnosed as having ITP from hematological studies; the platelet count was as low as 46, 000 and PA IgG was as high as 51ng/107 cells (the normal rage: 9.0_??_25.0). Operative procedures included distal gastrectomy and D2 lymph node dissection. With intraoperative administration of 10 units of platelet, the platelet count was gradually elevated after the operation up to 101, 000 on the 8th postoperative day. Thereafter the level was kept at around 100, 000 and no additional administration of platelet was required. Examination of the resected material disclosed H. pylori positive. The high PA IgG level dropped to 29ng and the platelet count was in the normal range, as of 4 months after the operation.
It is thought that distal gastrectomy might have the same effect for ITP as the H. pylon eradication has, because ITP improved after the procedure for gastric cancer with H. pylori infection in this case.
