Overweight Individuals Are at Increased Risk for Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Kathleen K. Nicol, Brent J. Shelton, Mary Ann Knovich, John Owen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Our understanding of the pathophysiology of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, TTP, has increased dramatically in the past few years with the identification of the role of ADAMTS13. Nonetheless, risk factors for the development of acute TTP are few. Informally, obesity was felt to be common in patients with TTP and so a formal study was undertaken to further define this association. We report our data in 105 patients with classical TTP as defined by thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. We found that marked obesity is a previously unrecognized risk factor with an associated odds ratio of 7.6. Interestingly, despite this increased risk, obesity might well be associated with lower mortality, although this did not reach statistical significance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)170-174
Number of pages5
JournalAmerican Journal of Hematology
Volume74
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2003

Keywords

  • Obesity
  • TTP
  • Weight

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hematology

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