Muhammad Faisal Bashir, Sidra Ghazanfer, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sarah Rafi, Hasan Osman Mahmoodf, Khalid Aftab*
Objective: To establish the use of the mean platelet volume (MPV) as a tool in distinguishing between the hyper destructive versus hypo productive causes of thrombocytopenia.
Methods: This study was conducted at pathology department, Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College, Sialkot (KMSMCS) from July 2020 to December 2020. Ethical approval was obtained from ethical committee of KMSMCS. 180 patients having platelet count less than 100x109/L were enrolled. Patients were categorized into two groups;
A. Patients having thrombocytopenia due to increase destruction of platelets.
B. Patients having thrombocytopenia due to reduced production of platelets.
Patients were selected from the CBC print generated by the automated haematology analyzer. Platelet count was manually verified by examining peripheral blood smear (PBS) on glass slides. MPV was recorded from the haematology analyzer print.
Results: 180 patients having platelet count less than 100x109 /L were enrolled. 87 were males and 93 were females. The male to female ratio was 1: 1.07. Age of the patients were between 0 - 88 years. Patients were further categorized into three groups on the basis of age. Group A (0 - 30 years), B (31 – 60 years) and C (61 -90 years). Group B wasthe most common age group having 108 patients followed by group A which had 42.
Conclusion: MPV is a platelet parameter which is readily available, authentic and can be relied upon to help as regards the basic cause of thrombocytopenia. It is also more convenient for the patient as compared to the bone marrow examination.