ABSTRACT
Previous studies in adults have demonstrated that the mean platelet volume (MPV),
which is now routinely measured during blood counting performed by the Coulter Counter
S Plus, is an important parameter and may serve as a predictor of the hemostatic potential
of patients with severe thrombocytopenia.
MPVs and platelet counts were determined in 155 neonates in order to establish the
normal values of the mean platelet volume during the neonatal period. Analysis of
variance performed in 119 neonates of birthweight > 2 kg revealed a significant rise
with age of both platelet count (P < 0.0001 and MPV (P < 0.02) during the neonatal period. The platelet counts of these 119 neonates (323336
± 106918; mean ± SD) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the platelet counts (283805 ± 114130) of 36 neonates where birthweight
was < 2 kg. There was no significant difference between the MPV values of the two
groups (8.67 ± 1.03 μm3 and 8.89 ± 1. 10μm3, respectively).
Since increased MPV is observed during periods of platelet production, the above results
suggest that the rise of platelet count associated with increased MPV in newborn infants
is due to increased production of platelets in the early postnatal weeks.
