Screening Tests of Platelet Function: Update on Their Appropriate Uses for Diagnostic Testing

Paul Harrison; Andrew Mumford

doi:10.1055/s-0029-1220323

Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Table of Contents

Semin Thromb Hemost 2009; 35(2): 150-157
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1220323

Screening Tests of Platelet Function: Update on Their Appropriate Uses for Diagnostic Testing

Paul Harrison¹ , Andrew Mumford²

¹Oxford Haemophilia & Thrombosis Centre, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
²Bristol Heart Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol, United Kingdom

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Global tests of platelet function are often used as screening tests during the laboratory investigation of individuals with suspected hemostatic defects. Because global tests of platelet function do not enable specific diagnosis of platelet disorders, they are normally performed as the first part of a two-step strategy that requires further testing with more specialized assays of platelet function to confirm or refute the diagnosis. The most commonly proposed rationale for testing global platelet function as a first-line investigation is that normal test results may exclude a diagnosis of platelet function disorder so that further specialized testing can be avoided. For this reason, global platelet function tests are usually initially performed at the same time as global assays of coagulation pathway function (prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, von Willebrand factor screening tests [VWF:Ag, VWF:RCo, and FVIII:C]) and measurement of platelet number. The most widely performed tests for screening platelet function disorders are currently the template bleeding time and the closure time within the Platelet Function Analyzer. These tests will therefore be considered in detail in this review, and we will discuss the limitations of these methods in screening individuals for platelet disorders.

KEYWORDS

Platelet disorders - platelet function testing - bleeding time - PFA-100 - platelet counting

Full Text

References

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Dr. Paul Harrison

Oxford Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre, Churchill Hospital

Oxford, OX3 7LJ, UK

Email: paul.harrison@ndm.ox.ac.uk