A Prospective Study on the Incidence and Outcomes of Neonatal Thrombocytopenia at a Tertiary Care Facility in Central Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: The incidence of neonatal thrombocytopenia is low, yet highly dependent on the populations studied. PURPOSE: To assess the incidence of neonatal thrombocytopenia and identify factors associated with its outcomes, namely time to disease onset, recovery duration, and platelet count. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted between May and October 2013 at a large tertiary care facility in Saudi Arabia. Neonates with a platelet count of fewer than 150,000/μL of blood were followed up until their recovery or death. RESULTS: The period incidence of neonatal thrombocytopenia was 84/4379 (1.9%). The mortality rate associated with the condition was 68/100,000 births. The male-female ratio of neonates with thrombocytopenia was 2.4:1. The mean (standard deviation) time to disease onset was 1.83 (1.29) days, whereas that of recovery duration was 15.35 (18.46) days. The mean (standard deviation) platelet count at onset was 109,543 (32,826)/μL of blood, whereas that of the increase in platelet count from onset to recovery was 121,876 (78,218)/μL of blood. Treatment comprised monitoring/spontaneous recovery (n = 52, 64.2%) or platelet transfusion (n = 9, 11.1%), immunoglobulins (n = 8, 9.9%), or a combination of both (n = 12, 14.8%). Neonates with a higher gestational age (β = 8061, t = 2.456) and late disease onset (β = 26,178, t = 3.969) were more likely to have a larger increase in platelet count from onset to recovery than those with a lower gestational age (adjusted P = .017) and earlier disease onset (adjusted P < .001). IMPLICATIONS: The high incidence of neonatal thrombocytopenia in this Middle Eastern setting indicates that it may be dependent on the population studied. Special attention should be focused on neonates of lower gestational ages and with an early disease onset, because their platelet count recovery may be slower than that of the countergroup.