Altered mental status and a not-so-benign rash. 2011

Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.

Introduction. The authors are presenting a case of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP) that presented with complaints of altered mental status and found to have petechiae. Case Presentation. An 81-year-old female patient presented to the Emergency Department (ED) of a tertiary care hospital with chief complains of dizziness, slurred speech, and weakness. She was found to have lower extremity petechiae on physical examination. On blood exam, she had thrombocytopenia, and her peripheral blood smear showed schistocytes. Her renal function was also impaired. The CT scan of head was without any abnormality. She was finally diagnosed as having TTP and transferred to ICU but ultimately passed away. Conclusion. TTP is a rare syndrome with preventable mortality if diagnosed early and managed appropriately with plasmapheresis. The Emergency Department physicians should be aware of the presenting symptoms and signs of TTP.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
February 2002, Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
September 2016, Annals of emergency medicine,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
August 2001, Pediatric emergency care,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
November 2017, The Journal of family practice,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
June 2016, Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
June 2016, Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
March 1993, Chest,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
March 2023, Annals of the American Thoracic Society,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
October 2018, eLife,
Aakash N Bodhit, and Latha Ganti Stead
February 2016, Gastroenterology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!