Contribution of Anti-platelet Antibodies Identified With MAIPA Assay in the Demonstration of the Auto-immune Character of a Thrombocytopenia at Diagnosis

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease but, paradoxically, and unlike other autoimmune diseases, antiplatelet antibodies are not used either for the diagnosis of the disease or for its prognosis. ITP is a diagnosis of exclusion retained after elimination of other pathologies leading to a thrombocytopenia. No major study has prospectively evaluated the diagnostic value of the presence of anti-platelet antibodies in the etiological investigation of a thrombocytopenia, nor the impact of platelet antibodies on the course of ITP. The gold standard analysis for the determination of platelet antibodies, is the "monoclonal antibody immobilization of platelet antigens" assay (MAIPA), either direct to detect autoantibodies attached to platelets, or indirect to detect circulating antiplatelet antibodies. Therefore, this work aims to study the contribution of the presence of anti-platelet antibodies detected in MAIPA to determine the autoimmune nature of a thrombocytopenia at diagnosis.