Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia in SLE and COVID-19

Thrombocytopenia and hypercoagulopathy are haematological abnormalities commonly seen in individuals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The difficulty arises when the patient has both diseases concurrently. The clinician should be able to comprehend the pathophysiology of these patient abnormalities in order to provide the best treatment possible. We present a case of a 20-year-old female COVID-19 patient with a history of SLE who had thrombocytopenia but normal D-dimer results. Our analysis revealed that the thrombocytopenia may have been caused by a relapse of lupus, not by COVID-19 infection. In this case, glucocorticoids were the primary therapy and produced excellent results. LEARNING POINTS: The pathophysiology of thrombocytopenia in a patient with concurrent COVID-19 and SLE should not always be associated with platelet consumption. Low-dose glucocorticoids should be administered, with infection risk and comorbidities taken into consideration. Glucocorticoid therapy may result in a delay in viral clearance.