Clinical Information

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare (estimated incidence of 3.7 cases per million) and potentially fatal thrombotic microangiopathy syndrome, is characterized by a pentad of symptoms: thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (intravascular hemolysis and presence of peripheral blood schistocytes), neurological symptoms, fever, and kidney dysfunction. A large majority of patients initially present with thrombocytopenia and peripheral blood evidence of microangiopathy and, in the absence of any other potential explanation for such findings, satisfy criteria for early initiation of plasma exchange, which is critical for patient survival. TTP may rarely be congenital (Upshaw-Shulman syndrome) but, far more commonly, is acquired. Acquired TTP may be considered primary or idiopathic (the most frequent type) or associated with distinctive clinical conditions (secondary TTP) such as medications, hematopoietic stem cell or solid organ transplantation, sepsis, and malignancy.

The isolation and characterization of an IgG autoantibody frequently found in patients with idiopathic TTP clarified the basis of this entity and led to the isolation and characterization of a metalloprotease called ADAMTS-13 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif 13 repeats), which is the target for the IgG autoantibody, leading to a functional deficiency of ADAMTS-13. ADAMTS-13 cleaves the ultra-high-molecular-weight multimers of von Willebrand factor (VWF) at the peptide bond Tyr1605-Met1606 to disrupt VWF-induced platelet aggregation. The IgG antibody prevents this cleavage and leads to TTP. Although the diagnosis of TTP may be confirmed with ADAMTS-13 activity and inhibition studies, the decision to initiate plasma exchange should not be delayed pending results of this assay.