Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) in the elderly. Methods A total of 183 elderly inpatients with HSP aged ≥60 years old in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from March 2002 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Among 183 elderly inpatients with HSP, the average age was 69.41±6.81 years, and the ratio of male to female patients was 1∶1.316. The disease occurred mostly in autumn and winter. The main clinical types of elderly HSP patients were renal purpura (47.00%) and mixed purpura (40.98%). The main predisposing factor of HSP was infection (32.2%), and the main type of infection was upper respiratory tract infection (72.9%). Gastrointestinal damage occurred in 42.6% of the patients during the course of the disease. In addition, the increased fibrin degradation products (FDP) level was statistically different between the patients with gastrointestinal damage and those without gastrointestinal damage (P<0.05). Conclusions The incidence of HSP in the elderly patients is associated with the gender and season, and the main clinical types of HSP in the elderly were renal purpura and mixed purpura. The elderly patients with HSP are prone to develop gastrointestinal damage, and monitoring blood FDP level is helpful to determine the occurrence of gastrointestinal damage.

Key words: Henoch-Schonlein purpura, clinical manifestation, aged, retrospective analysis