TY - JOUR T1 - Rituximab treatment of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in the setting of connective tissue disease. JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 1194 LP - 1196 VL - 33 IS - 6 AU - Timothy B Niewold AU - Deborah Alpert AU - Carla R Scanzello AU - Stephen A Paget Y1 - 2006/06/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/33/6/1194.abstract N2 - Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) causes significant morbidity and mortality, and may be associated with connective tissue diseases (CTD). Some cases are refractory to plasma exchange and require immunosuppressive therapy. We describe 2 patients with CTD who had refractory TTP treated successfully with rituximab. Both patients also developed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). The propensity of a patient with a CTD to develop autoantibodies to ADAMTS-13 and platelets likely explains the association of such a disease with TTP and HIT. Rituximab should be considered in this complex clinical setting, because it may decrease the production of multiple pathogenic autoantibodies. ER -