Short-course high-dose dexamethasone therapy for chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in children.

First-line therapies of acute and chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) include intravenous immunoglobulin, IV anti-D and corticosteroids. A short-course high-dose dexamethasone (HDD-SC) therapy has recently been reported to be efficacious in acute ITP. The present study was conducted to assess the efficacy of HDD-SC in children with chronic ITP. Over a period of 10 months, 13 patients with chronic ITP were given HDD-SC (20 mg m(-2) IV daily for 4 days, four cycles repeated every 15 days). Of the 12 patients who could be evaluated, complete response was observed in 8 (66.6%) and moderate response in 2 (17%) patients, whereas 2 (17%) patients had no response. HDD-SC appears to be a safe and effective therapy in childhood ITP.