Mean platelet volume: A simple tool for early risk stra- tification of pulmonary embolism

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is still a major health problem associated with a significant mortality and morbidity. Rapid recognition of massive and submassive cases should be easy and available in order to commencement of appropriate therapy. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between mean platelet volume (MPV) and PE severity. Three hundred twenty five patients with proven PE (massive=113, submassive =129, and non-massive=83 patients) groups were retrospectively evaluated. The mean age of the participants was 68 years. The distribution of age was different among PE and control cases. The MPV value of patients with PE group was significantly higher compared to healthy subjects 9.8±1.7 fl vs. 9.1±0.8 fl, p<0.001). There were significant differences in regards to MPV levels between the patients with massive, sub-massive, and non-massive PE [10 (6.9-17.2) vs. 9.8 (6.6-19.5) vs. 9.2(5.8-13.2) fl, respectively p = 0.004]. MPV is significantly higher in subjects with newly diagnosed PE patients and also MPV is strongly associated with the severity of PE.