Persistent fever combined with a rapid decline in platelets should never be dismissed as a routine vital sign infection.
TTP is a medical emergency where the early, precise diagnosis and prompt TPE are the difference between life and death.
KARIMNAGAR, JULY 16, 2026: Specialists Doctors at Yashoda Hospital, Somajiguda, Hyderabad, had saved the life of a 15-year-old girl diagnosed with Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP), an exceptionally rare and dangerous blood disorder.
Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP) is a life-threatening blood disorder characterised by clotting in small blood vessels. Without treatment, mortality exceeds 90%. The standard treatment combines Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE) to replace the missing ADAMTS13 enzyme with high-dose corticosteroids and immunosuppressants like rituximab.
The patient, hailing from the Dharmapuri region of Jagtial district, was brought to the Yashoda Somajiguda hospital’s emergency department with high fever, severe anaemia, and active bleeding tendencies. Upon arrival, the multidisciplinary team of Yashoda Hospitals performed targeted diagnostic evaluations that swiftly confirmed TTP. Immediately, the clinical team shifted the patient to the medical ICU and initiated fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusions and placed her on mechanical ventilation as her consciousness levels began to dip.
The turning point in her survival was the immediate execution of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE) by the haemoglobin team. The TPE works by removing the patient’s compromised plasma, which contains harmful autoantibodies and replacing it with healthy donor plasma. The response was remarkably swift; within just two sessions of plasma exchange, the patient showed significant clinical improvement, allowing her to be successfully weaned off the ventilator. The treatment continued till the patient’s platelet counts fully normalised above one lakh, leading to a complete recovery.
Disclosing this to newsmen here at Yashoda Medical Centre in Karimnagar town on Thursday, Dr Karanam Ashok Kumar, senior consultant hemato-oncology and BMT physician at Yashoda hospital, Somajiguda, said: “Persistent fever combined with a rapid decline in platelets should never be dismissed as a routine vital infection. TTP is a medical emergency where the early, precise diagnosis and prompt TPE are the difference between life and death. Thanks to the advanced ICU capabilities and dedicated haematology and BNT facilities, we were able to intervene rapidly and achieve complete reversal of this life-threatening condition”.
Dr Karanam Ashok Kumar would be available at Yashoda Medical Centre in Karimnagar town on every third Thursday for out-patient treatment.
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