Study on epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics of children with Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura

ABSTRACT

Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura [HSP] is the most common vasculitiis in children. It is characterized by non-thrombocytopenic purpura, arthritis and arthralgia, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal hemorrhage and glomerulonephritis. This study was conducted to determined epidemiological and clinical manifestations and laboratory findings of children who admitted with HSP at university hospitals of Ahvaz. Information about the epidemiological, clinical and paraclinical characteristics of patients were selected from hospital records of all 63 children with final diagnosis of HSP who were admitted in pediatric wards in university hospitals of Ahvaz during February 2001 to February 2008. Data analyzed by SPSS software. There were 63 children, 41[65%] males and 22 [35%] females [M/F ratio 1.86/1]. The mean age of the patients was 6.4 [ +/- 3.15] years. Previous history of upper respiratory tract infections was found in 42.9% of the patients. In the review of clinical features, skin manifestations, gastrointestinal symptoms, arthritis/arthralgia and evidences of renal involvement were found in 100, 76, 66.7 and 39.6% of cases, respectively. The neurological signs were not found. Anemia, gastrointestinal bleeding, nephrotic syndrome and intussusception were found in 47.6, 19, 6.3 and 3.2% of cases, respectively. We found that relative to other studies, gastrointestinal manifestations in our patients were more common and more severe than arthicular manifestations. But, the final prognosis was good with no mortality