A Case of Successful Danazol Therapy in Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

ABSTRACT

Autoimmune thrombocytopenia and autoimmune hemolytic anemia occur in 10-26% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE). These hematological manifestations may be the sole presenting sign and can precede the appearance of diagnosable SLE in 5 to 23% of cases. The conventional treatment for SLE associated with these disorders includes corticosteroid therapy and splenectomy, but autoimmune thrombocytopenia or autoimmune hemolytic anemia may be refractory to both treatments. We experienced a case of a SLE patient complicated by severe autoimmune thrombocytopenia. Therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin and corticosteroids failed. She responded to danazol and remission of thrombocytopenia(platelet >100,000/mm3) was observed 7 days after starting danazol. Danazol therapy seems to be a useful and well tolerated treatment for refractory autoimmune thrombocytopenia associated with SLE.