Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare disease characterized by the pentad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia with purpura, acute kidney injury, neurologic abnormality with fluctuating mental status, and fever.1,2 It has an incidence ranging from 3.7 to 11 cases per million and risk factors that include female gender, Afro-Caribbean ancestry, and obesity.2 The prevailing pathophysiologic theory for TTP asserts that patients have a deficiency or defect in A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13), a protease that cleaves large multimers of von Willebrand factor.
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare disease characterized by the pentad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia with purpura, acute kidney injury, neurologic abnormality with fluctuating mental status, and fever.1,2 It has an incidence ranging from 3.7 to 11 cases per million and risk factors that include female gender, Afro-Caribbean ancestry, and obesity.2 The prevailing pathophysiologic theory for TTP asserts that patients have a deficiency or defect in A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13), a protease that cleaves large multimers of von Willebrand factor.