title: Comparison of reticulated platelet count and mean platelet volume determination in the evaluation of bone marrow recovery after aplastic chemotherapy.
abstract: Reticulated platelet count provides an estimate of thrombopoiesis in the same way as reticulocyte count is a measure of erythropoiesis. We applied thiazole orange (TO) staining, followed by fluorescence-activated flow-cytometric analysis, to platelets in whole-blood samples from normal subjects and 18 aplastic patients after chemotherapy for haematologic malignancies. The percentage of TO-positive platelets in 30 control subjects was 5.7 +/- 2.4% (mean +/- 1 SD), determining the threshold of reticulated platelet positivity as up to 10.5% (mean + 2 SD). In the 18 patients studied, the mean percentage of TO-positive platelets was 4.3 +/- 1.89% during aplasia and 23.3 +/- 9.43% during bone marrow recovery, respectively (P < 0.05). All patients had a percentage of TO-positive platelets of up to 10.5%. In comparison, mean platelet volume during bone marrow recovery increased in 12 cases of the 18 patients studied. We conclude that flow cytometric analysis of reticulated platelets is a sensitive and specific test for evaluating thrombopoiesis recovery during aplastic chemotherapy, and platelet transfusion should be reconsidered in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Hématologie et maladies du sang, CHU de La Miletrie, Poitiers, France. l.macchi@chu-poitiers.fr
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Macchi
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chamlian
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sadoun
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Le Dirach
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guilhot
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guilhot
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brizard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D034061:Thrombopoiesis / Q000187:drug effects*