How is ITP diagnosed during pregnancy?
The diagnosis of ITP is often difficult and especially so during pregnancy because other causes of thrombocytopenia are more common and difficult to diagnose as well. ITP should be suspected any time during pregnancy when an isolated thrombocytopenia of less than 50,000 ppm is detected, especially during the first two trimesters. Depending on how low the platelet count drops and the symptoms, a physician may do tests that rule out other causes of low platelets. In some cases, physicians will test for the presence of anti-platelet antibodies, perform tests for other diseases such as lupus and do a bone marrow aspiration. A physician may not be able to make an unequivocal diagnosis of ITP during pregnancy but in general, when no other cause is found to explain a very low platelet count, the diagnosis is often ITP. There is no definitive test for ITP and differentiating ITP from the more common gestational thrombocytopenia is very difficult in the absence of a recent pre-pregnancy platele
