Hemorrhage of Upper Digestive and Respiratory Tracts in a Child with Glanzmann Thrombasthenia

Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT) is an autosomal recessive platelet disorder that could cause mild to severe bleeding episodes. The incidence is approximately 1 per 1,000,000 births. Patients with GT frequently have mucocutaneous bleeding with absent platelet aggregation in response to all physiologic stimuli, but a normal platelet count and morphology. Specifically, the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GP IIb/IIIa) complex is either inadequate or dysfunctional. This case reports a 3.5-year-old boy with Glanzmann thrombasthenia who had two episodes with uncontrolled hemorrhage from upper digestive and respiratory tracts, the first with the bleeding point found in the left tonsil and the second in the adenoids.