Thrombotic Microangiopathy, Familial
Thrombotic Microangiopathy, Familial Definition
The term thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) refers to a lesion of vessel wall thickening (mainly arterioles or capillaries), intraluminal platelet thrombosis, and partial or complete obstruction of the vessel lumina. Depending on whether renal or brain lesions prevail, two pathologically indistinguishable but somehow clinically different entities have been distinguished: the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and the thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Injury to the endothelial cell is the central and likely inciting factor in the sequence of events resulting to TMA.