What causes fetal thrombocytopenia?
The most common reason for fetal thrombocytopenia is an incompatibility between platelet antigens in the mother’s blood and the baby’s blood. This happens when the baby inherits certain types of blood antigens from the father that the mother does not have. The mother’s system creates antibodies that attack the fetal platelets with these antigens. This leads to the destruction of the fetal platelets causing thrombocytopenia. Some other causes of fetal thrombocytopenia can include maternal viral infections, such as toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, or parvovirus. How is fetal thrombocytopenia diagnosed? Fetal thrombocytopenia is most often diagnosed after a previous child has been born with signs and symptoms of a low platelet count. This can include bleeding spots (petichiae), bruising or spontaneous internal bleeding. Bleeding can occur anywhere in the fetal body, including in the brain which can lead to stroke or even death. The mother may have antiplatelet antibodies in her bl
