Rituximab in recalcitrant thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a typical autoimmune disease with manifestations due to unopposed production of autoantibodies against the patient's own cells. The clinical features are diverse, ranging from musculoskeletal involvement, lupus nephritis to cerebral and even haematological...

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Published inInternational journal of rheumatic diseases Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 69 - 72
Main Authors HALIM, A. G., SOEHARDY, Z., SHAHRIR, M. S., ROZITA, M., LOO, C. Y., RASHIDI, S., NORELLA KONG, C. T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Publishing Asia 01.04.2008
Subjects
plasma exchange
rituximab
steroids
systemic lupus erythematosus
thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
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Summary:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a typical autoimmune disease with manifestations due to unopposed production of autoantibodies against the patient's own cells. The clinical features are diverse, ranging from musculoskeletal involvement, lupus nephritis to cerebral and even haematological involvement. We report a case of a young woman with known SLE who developed thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) secondary to SLE resistant to conventional treatment with plasma exchange. She was then treated with rituximab (MabThera®), a CD20 monoclonal antibody, and showed remarkable improvement. To our best knowledge this is the first case reporting the use of rituximab in acute resistant TTP secondary to SLE.
ISSN:1756-1841
1756-185X
DOI:10.1111/j.1756-185X.2008.00334.x