Clinical study on Rituximab in the treatment of idiopathic thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

To study the efficacy and safety of rituximab (RTX) in the treatment of idiopathic thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITTP). Among 17 ITTP patients, nine cases of the RTX group were administrated with RTX plus plasma exchange (PEX) and steroids. Eight cases of the control group received PEX plus steroids±other immune inhibitors. Patients received RTX 375 mg/m², 1 per week for 4 weeks. The laboratory parameters, including hemogram, LDH, ADAMTS13 activities and its inhibitors, and the ratio of B lymphocytes in peripheral blood were monitored. The number of PEX, total plasma volumes, remission time, relapse ratio and adverse effects in both groups were compared. The median number of PEX/median total plasma volumes in the RTX and control group were 5(2-8)/9.6(4.0-15.4) L and 6(4-9)/11.2(7.5-14.6) L, respectively. Patients in the RTX and control group achieved hematologic remission at the median time of 15(5-20) days and 22(7-36) days, respectively. And the median time of immunological remission in the two group