title: Template bleeding time and PFA-100 have low sensitivity to screen patients with hereditary mucocutaneous hemorrhages: comparative study in 148 patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We compared the template bleeding time (BT) and closure time (CT) in the PFA-100 as screening tests in 148 consecutive patients with unequivocal mucocutaneous bleeding and positive family history.
  
  
  METHODS
  drug intake, concomitant diseases including minor infections, low platelet count, diseases of secondary hemostasis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Type 1 von Willebrand disease (VWD-1) was diagnosed in 26 patients, primary platelet secretion defect (PSD) in 33, VWD-1 + PSD in nine, whereas 80 patients did not comply with the criteria for known hemostatic disorders (UD, unknown diagnosis). BT and CT were prolonged in 35.8% and 29.7% of all the patients, respectively (P = 0.23). Sensitivity increased to 48% if an abnormality of BT and/or CT was considered. Same comparisons for BT and CT in each diagnostic category were, respectively: 42 vs. 61.5% in VWD-1 (P = 0.18), 42 vs. 24% in platelet secretion defects (P = 0.11), 67 vs. 89% in VWD-1 + PSD (P = 0.50), and 27.5 vs. 15% in UD (P = 0.06).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both tests were relatively insensitive and not significantly different in detecting incoming patients with mucocutaneous hemorrhages. In patients with VWD-1, the PFA-100 performed slightly better, whereas the opposite occurred in those patients with platelet secretion defects. In the UD group, both tests lost sensitivity, but the BT detected 1.8 times more patients than the PFA-100. Given the large proportion of undiagnosed bleeders and the overall low sensitivity of these tests, clinical decisions still rely on the medical history and etiological diagnosis of the bleeding disorder.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory and Department of Hematology-Oncology, School of Medicine, P.Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Quiroga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goycoolea
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aranda
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Panes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mezzano
mesh_terms: D001760:Bleeding Time / Q000592:standards*; D001778:Blood Coagulation Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D001791:Blood Platelet Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006487:Hemostasis; D006801:Humans; D009092:Mucous Membrane; D010979:Platelet Function Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012867:Skin; D014842:von Willebrand Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis