Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in pregnancy.

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) frequently occurs in young women, and is therefore encountered in pregnancy. Any woman with a history of ITP, regardless of her clinical status, has some risk of delivering a thrombocytopenic infant, since the antiplatelet antibodies cross the placenta. Methods for predicting which infants are at high risk, for choosing which pregnancies should be delivered by cesarian section, and for managing the mother and infant at term are reviewed.