Abstract:
Coronary artery disease is mainly caused by atherosclerosis and its complications. Platelets
and their activity have an important role in initiation of atherosclerotic lesions and coronary thrombus
formation. Larger platelets are enzymatically and metabolically more active and have a higher potential
thrombotic ability as compared with smaller platelets. Aims: To study the changes in platelet volume
indices and platelet count in acute myocardial infarction, stable coronary artery disease and compare them
with controls to assess their usefulness in predicting coronary events. Materials and Methods: This was
a comparative study of 128 subjects; 39 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 24 patients with
stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) and 65 controls. Venous sample were drawn from AMI subjects
on admission (within 4 hours of chest pain) and collected in standardized EDTA sample tubes. Platelet
count and volume indices were assayed within 30 minutes of blood collection, using Sysmex KX21-N
autoanalyzer. Venous samples were also drawn from SCAD on who were admitted for angiography and
subject attending routine checkups. Results: The mean platelet volume was significantly higher in patients
with AMI (9.65 ± 0.96) as compared to SCAD (9.37 ± 0.88) and controls (9.21 ± 0.58). The best cut-off
values for MPV when predicting AMI and SCAD in patients were 9.25 fl (sensitivity 56.4%; specificity
45.9%) and 9.15 fl (sensitivity 54.2%; specificity 42.23%), respectively. Conclusions: Measurements of
MPV may be of some benefit in detecting those patients at higher risk for an AMI and CAD
