Platelet thrombosis syndrome.

T HE PURPOSE of this paper is to report the clinical and pathologic manifestations of seven cases of the platelet thrombosis syndrome. In 1925 Moschowitz' first described a rapidly fatal disease characterized by fever, anemia, petechiae, neurologic signs and autopsy findings of generalized capillary and arteriolar hyaline thrombi. Since then approximately 45 cases have been reported,2-30 most of them within the past 10 years. Many synonyms for the disease have been suggested, such as "thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura,""' "thrombocytic acroangiothrombosis,"8 "thrombotic microangiopathic hemolytic anemia,"26 "disseminated arteriolar and capillary platelet thromboses,""'7 and "generalized blood platelet thrombosis."''4 Much of this nomenclature is either cumbersome or suggests features of the disease that are not invariably present. We believe the term "platelet thrombosis syndrome" to be the most satisfactory until the nature of the entity is more fully elucidated.