Wednesday, April 4, 2007 5:00 PM
Glanzmann's thrombasthenia
Although it is very rare, there are children in the world who get this disease, it occurs all over the world, even here. Glanzmann's thrombasthenia happens when both parents carry the trait for the disease, or one parent carries the trait and the other has the disease itself. Do you want to see a real incident of a baby born with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia? Go to http://www.glanzmanns.com/momStarts.htm. Just imagine how worried her parents must have been.
This disease is caused by a deficiency of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa in the platelets. It causes bleeding times to be prolonged as the platelets are unable to clump together like normal. It could take 20-30 minutes for a cut to stop bleeding! Can you imagine getting a small cut and having it bleed profusely? Wouldn’t you be really shocked and scared? A simple injection could result in a lot of bleeding.
Below are some symptoms of Glanzmann's thrombasthenia
· Children with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia tend to bruise more easily.
· They can also develop purpura (very large, purple bruises), petechiae (very small spots of bleeding under the skin), nosebleeds, gum bleeding, heavy menstrual bleeding and gastrointestinal bleeding (bleeding in the stomach or intestines).
· Male infants may have prolonged bleeding after circumcision.
· Bleeding when there is no known injury to the joints.
Excessive blood loss may occur during operations if the child does not undergo platelet transfusion before hand. The prospect for survival is good, however the lives of these children are constantly in danger. When serious bleeding occurs they have to be rushed to the hospital, even when having a nosebleed, the child might have to be sent to the emergency room.
Although it is very rare, there are children in the world who get this disease, it occurs all over the world, even here. Glanzmann's thrombasthenia happens when both parents carry the trait for the disease, or one parent carries the trait and the other has the disease itself. Do you want to see a real incident of a baby born with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia? Go to http://www.glanzmanns.com/momStarts.htm. Just imagine how worried her parents must have been.
This disease is caused by a deficiency of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa in the platelets. It causes bleeding times to be prolonged as the platelets are unable to clump together like normal. It could take 20-30 minutes for a cut to stop bleeding! Can you imagine getting a small cut and having it bleed profusely? Wouldn’t you be really shocked and scared? A simple injection could result in a lot of bleeding.
Below are some symptoms of Glanzmann's thrombasthenia
· Children with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia tend to bruise more easily.
· They can also develop purpura (very large, purple bruises), petechiae (very small spots of bleeding under the skin), nosebleeds, gum bleeding, heavy menstrual bleeding and gastrointestinal bleeding (bleeding in the stomach or intestines).
· Male infants may have prolonged bleeding after circumcision.
· Bleeding when there is no known injury to the joints.
Excessive blood loss may occur during operations if the child does not undergo platelet transfusion before hand. The prospect for survival is good, however the lives of these children are constantly in danger. When serious bleeding occurs they have to be rushed to the hospital, even when having a nosebleed, the child might have to be sent to the emergency room.