What do you know about Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP)?

HPS is a disease that deals with vasculitis and causes bruises after a viral infection. Our 2 year old niece is being tested for it right now in the hospital. The doctors can't think of anything else her symptoms may point to. She has severe, sudden bruising and joint pains.

Does anyone have any experience with this, in either children or adults? Thank you so much!

I was diagnosed with Henoch-scholein Purpura by an E.R DOC. Said I was thought to be the oldest person ever seen with it at age 28, don't know that's true or not. My family phy. had no experience with it, if fact it went un-diagnosed for some time until it got really bad one might causing the trip to the E.R. It has something to do with an inflamation of the blood vessels and it causes for lack of a better term "Leakage" that's the purpura to appear on the legs and sometimes butt. I have done a lot of research on this, as it scared me to death. my email is marialb23@yahoo.com if you have specific questions, I don't mind. I went through dermatologists and everything over it.

liver disease is something they should be looking at as well as kidney disease. this syndrome can be caused by a wide variety of diseases, usually viral but other things can cause it.
i would certainly rule out any form of hepatitis, but one stick to mind and that is hepatitis c. sometimes a person (in this case) a mother could be infected and not know it. this can be passed through vaginal delivery or in the womb (the latter is rare, but it can happen).

another issue is that your neice is only 2. it is possible too that she may have cut herself with something someone else has cut themselves on that has hcv. household exposure (a razor or toothbrush) that is shared or accidentally cut someone and then cut herself could result in this condition.

sometimes it is just a recent infection that can set it off. usually in children it is a virus that resides in the throat.

other diseases can cause her symptoms even the soreness in joints. bruising is not a good sign because that shows that her blood clotting factor is not normal. too low causes easy bruising (with the bruising, this concerns me that it could be her liver).

if it is hcv sometimes alt and ast levels aren't always indicative there is a problem so its imperrative they check her for antibodies.

good luck and prayers your way!