A Study of Neonatal Thrombocytopenia in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Study

Abstract Objective: Finding out etiology, clinical course, immediate outcome, and association of maternal and neonatal factors that predispose to neonatal thrombocytopenia. Setting: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Odisha (between November 2014 and October 2016). Design: Prospective observational study. Results: In the NICU setting, severe (39%) thrombocytopenia and very severe thrombocytopenia (51%) are very common. Neonatal sepsis (67%) is the leading cause of thrombocytopenia followed by prematurity (52%) with overlaps. Maternal pregnancy-induced hypertension is significantly associated with neonatal thrombocytopenia. The outcome is very poor in severe thrombocytopenia. Platelet transfusion remains the main stay of therapy. Conclusion: Septicemia is the most common preventable cause of thrombocytopenia in our setting. Birth asphyxia, which is the third most common cause, is partly preventable. Low platelet count was found to be an independent risk factor for the poor outcome in neonates admitted in the NICU. The mortality rate is very high among very severe thrombocytopenic infants