Introduction: Thrombocytopenia is considered to be a common complain of outpatients
and hospitalized ones, ranging from asymptomatic to severe death causing hemorrhage.
Diagnosing thrombocytopenia depends mainly on study of bone marrow which is an
invasive process. Complete Blood Count on automated hematology analyzers is widely
used nowadays with no extra cost, and platelets indices are part of the blood profile and
less often used in diagnosing thrombocytopenia.
Aim of the study: Investigation of a possible relationship between platelets indices (MPV
and PDW) and thrombocytopenia etiologies (hypoproductive or hyperdestructive), and
determine the sensitivity and specificity of platelets indices in the approach of
thrombocytopenia.
Platelets play a key role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis.
Platelet volume is an indicator of platelet activation and function, and it can be assessed by
platelet volume indices (PVI) such as mean platelet volume (MPV), platel
et distribution
width (PDW), and Platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR). PVI are potentially useful markers for
the prediction of acute coronary syndromes. Thus our study aims to evaluate the
relationship between them and clinical features of coronary artery disease (CAD).
Our population is represented by 60 patients undergoing coronary angiography at Al-
Assad University Hospital, Lattakia, Syria. Patients were evenly divided into four groups
according to their clinical presentation; control group, stable angina group, unstable angina
group, and acute myocardial infarction (MI) group. PVI were measured in all patients.
We found a significant increase in MPV (P=0.04), PDW (P=0.03), and P-LCR
(P=0.03) in patients compared to healthy control subjects. We calculated the cutoff points
of these indices to help diagnosing the progressive atherosclerotic plague, P-LCR>28.7%
(P=0.01) [sensitivity 44%, specificity 93%], and diagnosing MI, PDW>13.8 (P=0.01)
[53%, 100%], MPV>10.4 (P=0.004) [60%, 93%], P-LCR>28.7 (P=0.003) [66%, 93%].
In conclusion, PVI are simple and easy methods that can be used as a predictive
marker in CAD patients.
