Can thrombocytopenic purpura kill me?
Bleeding is an everyday occurrence, and not being able to stop it can prove to be fatal. The main cause of death in ITP is intracranial hemorrhage, which is bleeding inside your skull cap. The skull in a nearly closed cavity with rigid bones to provide protection for the brain and the blood vessels that supply it with oxygen. Its main strength, however, remains its most vulnerable point. If bleeding occurs in such a closed cavity, pressure increases rapidly and pushes the brain out of small holes in the skull, causing herniation of the brain over the brainstem, which is responsible for breathing. So basically, you die out of suffocation.
The good point in this complication is that it can be expected and prevented. Any patient with a platelet count of 10,000 per cubic milliliter is at a high risk of bleeding and should be treated emergently.