I took my 18 month old daughter to the pediatrition's office on 1-5-07, with what ended up being petechiae all over her body (mostly on her chest, stomach and back) and no other symptoms. My daughter has not been seriously sick in a long time and only had the sniffles for a few days in mid December. The nurse practitioner seemed worried and wanted my daughter to have some blood tests done right away from her finger. Her platelet count was 330, since it was in the normal range she sent us home and had us come back the next morning. The next day, 1-6-07, my daughter's platelet count was 215, still normal. On 1-8-07, more blood tests were done, this time taking blood from her arm where she immediately developed a lot more petechiae on her arm around the needle site. My daughter's platelet count was 420. No one knows what she has because her levels are in the normal range, and we have been referred to a pediatric hematologist for an appointment tomorrow, 1-10-07.

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with my daughter? I have never heard of petechiae before this started a few days ago, everything I found online seems pretty bad and my doctor's office doesn't know what it is. I would really appreciate any input, thank you!

I know how you feel because I scoured the internet for a long time after I noticed my daughter's petechiae last April. I couldn't take it anymore and took her to the doctor where they did a CBC. There is something called ITP that he was looking for, which causes very low platelet count. All of her bloodwork came back fine, thank the dear Lord. From there we were sent to a pediatric hem. too, but that was about three months later when we finally went. She was looking for a platelet factor abnormality. We had bloodwork done and it came back abnormal for one of the platelet functions, so we need to do it again to get a diagnosis for the future in case of surgery. Please try not to worry too much. I know you are going to the hem. today, so I hope you get some relieving answers.

To update the petechiae story... I took my daughter, Ellie, to the Pediatric hematologist that she was referred to today (1-10-07). The doctor examined her and ran some more blood tests and sent Ellie to have some x-rays taken of her chest, neck and head areas. He also said he might send her for a cat scan later. A few of the blood test results came back right away and the report had a few flags, I'm not really sure what these abbreviations mean but here they are:

high WBC: 11.4 K/uL
high LYM: 6.0 R1 52.7%L
low MCV: 73.2 fL
low MCH: 24.1 pg
high RDW: 16.5%

The rest of the results that were available right away were normal, including the platelet count that was 384. I'm supposed to call back tomorrow for the rest of the blood test and x-ray results.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Thanks mommyk, good luck with your daughter!

I have ITP - Immune Thrompocytopenia Purpura. The condition is where my body makes antibodies to my platelets and attacks them. They don't know what caused it, but I will always have it, but it is very very manageable. I had my spleen out and that put me into remission for many years, and now when I have a relapse a short dose of steroids does the trick.

I get petechaie when my counts are very very low, usually below 20,000. Your daughter's platelet counts look just fine, so I don't think it would be ITP, but I wanted to weigh in. If she's not bruising, that is a good sign, though. I hope you find some answers soon.

If there's any questions, I can answer, let me know. I've had this condition for years, and in fact, I'm in remission now - my platelets are currently too high, but I do know a bit about platelets.

Good luck to you,
Jill

To update the petechiae story again... I took Ellie back to the pediatric hematologist on 1-18-07 for a follow up. The doctor checked her out and went over her test results from the previous visit. He said the blood work and x-rays were all in the normal range, including the platelet count. Just about all of Ellie's petechiae had dissappeared except for a newer one on her shin. The doctor did feel a slightly swolen gland on her neck that was still there from our first visit and prescribed an antibiotic and wants to see her again in two weeks. As we were leaving, the doctor told me that her petechiae didn't seem to be anything to worry about.

Is it possible to just have an episode of petechiae with no other problems? It seems odd to me, but what do I know?

Thanks japlopper, the doctor said she did not seem to have ITP because her platelet levels were fine.

I would really appreciate any ideas or input from anyone who might know what is going on with my daughter's petechiae.