Successful use of eltrombopag in a child with refractory immune thrombocytopenia

Treatment of refractory immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) continues to challenge medical practitioners because of the lack of well tolerated and effective drugs. Eltrombopag is a second-generation thrombopoietin approved to treat adult chronic/refractory ITP in 2008. The use of eltrombopag to treat pediatric refractory ITP remains in the clinical trial stage, and no reports on its use in China are yet available. In this article, we describe a pediatric case of refractory ITP that was successfully treated with eltrombopag. Eltrombopag appears to be well tolerated and effective for treating pediatric refractory ITP with few side-effects.