Publication:

Assessment of platelets in patients with pulmonary hypertension

Background Pulmonary hypertension (PH) occurs due to end result of multifactorial etiology causing significant morbidity and mortality. Platelets are observed to be activated during initiation and progression of disease, platelets indices used as surrogate markers for platelet activation was used in current study to investigate effect of PH on platelets and correlate it with severity of PH.

Methods 104 patients with PH were grouped according to WHO classification depending upon etiology. Blood samples of patients from all groups were collected and investigated for platelet indices, peripheral smear, bleeding time, clotting time and echocardiography assessment to know the severity of pulmonary hypertension. Patients were reviewed after 2 months of appropriate treatment.

Results Prevalence of PH due to chronic lung disease (48.1%) was the most common observation. Thrombocyte count was decreased significantly in all groups of PH with p<0.01. MPV, PDW, P-LCR (platelet-large cell ratio) were observed to be increased with increasing severity for PH. Significant correlation p=0.01 indicated that platelet indices were altered with treatment for PH.

Conclusions Significant reduction was observed in platelet count with increase in platelet indices can be correlated with severity of PH. Hence in rural areas without echo cardiogram facilities, platelet indices can be considered as surrogate markers for early referral of patients to higher centers for further management of PH.