Sudden Cardiac Death in a Patient with Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: A Case Report

Abstract

A 49-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with malaise and gross hematuria. As ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin-like and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motifs 13) activity was absent and the ADAMTS13 inhibitor was detected, she was diagnosed with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). In addition to plasma exchange and corticosteroid therapy, she received rituximab therapy for inhibitor boosting but died suddenly of a cardiac arrest on day 9. The postmortem revealed microvascular platelet thrombi in multiple organs. In this case, the deterioration of the patient’s clinical status was considered to have been caused by inhibitor boosting-induced systemic microvascular occlusion. In particular, her sudden death may have been due to cardiovascular microthrombosis. Since inhibitor boosting can cause TTP patients to deteriorate rapidly, it is crucial to manage TTP patients who undergo inhibitor boosting appropriately. The monitoring of cardiac complications in TTP patients may also be essential, especially in the acute phase.