Severe Immune Thrombocytopenia Post-COVID-19: A Case Report

Abstract

Immune thrombocytopenia, also called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, is a common cause of thrombocytopenia after viral infections. Even in the second year of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, our body of knowledge regarding the diverse symptoms and complications of the virus continues to grow and evolve. We present a case of a 48-year-old African American male who came into the emergency department with severe left foot pain. A platelet count of 7x103/mL was incidentally found on complete blood count (CBC) during the patient's initial workup. The patient had previously been hospitalized for COVID-19 five weeks prior. Further workup did not support any etiology of his thrombocytopenia. Therefore, we gave a presumed diagnosis of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura secondary to COVID-19. The patient was treated with corticosteroid resulting in improvement in his platelet count.