Does the platelet function analyser (PFA-100) predict blood loss after cardiopulmonary bypass?
BACKGROUND
This study was designed to determine if a new point-of-care test (PFA-100) platelet function analyser) that assesses platelet function predicts blood loss after cardiac surgery.


METHODS
and results. Blood samples from 70 patients were drawn before and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for PFA-100 measurements. The system consists of a cartridge in which a membrane and an aperture are coated with either collagen/adenosine-5'-diphosphate or collagen/epinephrine. The instrument determines the time required for full occlusion of the aperture (closure time). We observed a weak correlation between pre-CPB collagen/epinephrine closure time and second-hour mediastinal blood loss (r=0.34, P=0.01). The sensitivity and positive predictive value of the PFA-100 measurements were comparable to platelet count for predicting excessive bleeding after CPB (75 and 27% vs 100 and 25%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The PFA-100 is a logical test for detecting patients who could have excessive bleeding after CPB. However, the PFA-100 was not able to separate patients at low risk of subsequent bleeding from those who had substantial bleeding.
Fattorutto
M
M
Department of Anaesthesiology and Haematology, Hopital Erasme, 808 route de Lennik, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium. m.fattorutto@swing.be
Pradier
O
O
Schmartz
D
D
Ickx
B
B
Barvais
L
L
D001791:Blood Platelet Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D006801:Humans; D010976:Platelet Count; D010979:Platelet Function Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity