Study of thrombocytopenia in the University Hospital Center of Batna (Eastern Algeria)

Abstract Thrombocytopenia refers to a decrease in the number of blood platelets below 150,000 per cubic millimeter of blood. Two mechanisms can explain thrombocytopenia: peripheral causes (by consumption, destruction, or sequestration); central causes (by production defect). The epidemiological, clinical, and biological characteristics of thrombocytopenia are poorly studied in Algeria. The objective of this study is to describe these characteristics at diagnosis. This is a retrospective and descriptive study of patients diagnosed at the Batna University Hospital from 2020 to 2023. There were 54 thrombocytopenic patients, 59% were male and 41% were female (male-to-female sex ratio = 1.45). The median age was 46.88 years. 37% of cases had anemia as a personal pathological history. Vertigo was the major reason for consultation. Clinical signs were mainly represented by the hemorrhagic syndrome (74%). Peripheral origin thrombocytopenia (63%) was more frequent than central origin thrombocytopenia. The distribution of different types of central thrombocytopenia was: acute leukemia (40%), aplastic anemia (30%), and Metastatic cancers (30%). Within peripheral thrombocytopenia, pregnancy was the primary etiology in 41%. Biologically, there was a decrease in platelet count (100%), red blood cells (37%), and hemoglobin (37%). Normal white blood cell count in 81% of cases.