Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The diagnosis of NAIT is usually made after an incidental finding of a low platelet count on a blood test or because of bleeding complications ranging from bruising or petechiae to intracranial hemorrhage in the fetus or newborn. [6] Frequently, the reduction in platelet count is mild and the affected neonates remain largely asymptomatic. [6]
As platelets are used up in the formation of thrombi, this then leads to a decrease in the number of overall circulating platelets, which may then cause life-threatening bleeds. Red blood cells passing the microscopic clots are subjected to shear stress, which damages their membranes, leading to rupture of red blood cells within blood vessels ...
One common definition of thrombocytopenia requiring emergency treatment is a platelet count below 50,000/μL. [5] Thrombocytopenia can be contrasted with the conditions associated with an abnormally high level of platelets in the blood – thrombocythemia (when the cause is unknown), and thrombocytosis (when the cause is known). [6] [7]
Reactive thrombocythemia is the most common cause of a high platelet count. It accounts for 88% to 97% of thrombocythemia cases in adults, and near 100% in children. In adults, acute infection, tissue damage, chronic inflammation and malignancy are the common causes of reactive thrombocythemia. Usually, one or more of these conditions is ...
Platelet concentration in the blood (i.e. platelet count), can be measured manually using a hemocytometer, or by placing blood in an automated platelet analyzer using particle counting, such as a Coulter counter or optical methods. [47] Most common blood testing methods include platelet count in their measurements, usually reported as PLT. [48]
Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a form of blood cancer in which the bone marrow no longer produces enough healthy, normal blood cells. [9] MDS are a frequently unrecognized and rare group of bone marrow failure disorders, yet the incidence rate has rose from 143 reported cases in 1973 to approximately 15,000 cases in the United States each year.
Two reviews in people with blood cancers receiving intensive chemotherapy or a stem cell transplant found that overall giving platelet transfusions when the platelet count is less than 10 x 10 9 /L compared to giving platelet transfusions when the platelet count is less than 20 or 30 x 10 9 /L had no effect on the risk of bleeding. [14] [18]
Current requirements in the US stipulate that a unit of apheresis platelets must contain at least 3.0 x10 11 platelets. [12] In England only 1% of adult platelet components are tested to check the number of platelets meet the minimum required standard of 2.4 x 10 11 platelets.