Glanzmann's thrombasthenia revisited.

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia is a rare thrombocytopathy that has been associated with fatal bleeding. This disorder is characterized by a defect in platelet aggregation. Platelet counts, morphologies, prothrombin times, and activated partial thromboplastin times are normal, however, the bleeding time is markedly prolonged. The goal of this article is to describe the pathophysiology of this disorder and to formulate a therapeutic approach to the management of hemorrhage in the thrombasthenic patient.