Platelet size has diagnostic predictive value in patients with thrombocytopenia

• Published in: Clinical and laboratory haematology Vol. 27; no. 6; pp. 370 - 373
• Main Authors: BOWLES, K. M., COOKE, L. J., RICHARDS, E. M., BAGLIN, T. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01-12-2005
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Blood Platelets - pathology; Bone Marrow Diseases - complications; Bone Marrow Diseases - diagnosis; bone marrow pathology; Cell Size; Child; Child, Preschool; diagnostic haematology; Diagnostic Imaging; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; mean platelet volume; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Single-Blind Method; Thrombocytopenia; Thrombocytopenia - diagnosis; Thrombocytopenia - pathology
• ISSN: 0141-9854; 1365-2257
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2257.2005.00726.x

Summary
We studied 473 unselected patients with thrombocytopenia. The mean platelet volume (MPV) was 8.1 fl in patients with marrow disease and 9.8 fl in patients without marrow disease (P < 0.001). A total of 5% of patients with an MPV ≥10.5 fl have marrow disease (odds ratio 0.05, 95% CI 0.02–0.13). Conversely over three quarters of patients with an MPV of <8.0 fl have marrow disease (odds ratio 8.1, 95% CI 5.0–13.0). Therefore the MPV can strongly guide the clinician as to the likely presence or absence of bone marrow disease in thrombocytopenic patients.