MEAN PLATELET VOLUME IN ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROMES

Objective: Description of risk factors in coronary heart disease has a very important place in the prevention of acute coronary syndromes as well as in predicting the prognosis. In this study, the association between acute coronary syndrome and platelet volume, which is thought to be risk factor of the former one, was investigated. Materials and methods: 214 patients were included to the study, comprising of 69 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 73 patients with unstable angina pectoris, and 72 patients with stable angina pectoris. Control group consisted of 45 subjects who had atypical chest pain with no pathological sign in coronary angiography. In cases with acute coronary syndrome, blood samples were taken at the time of hospitalization, whereas it was performed at routine follow-up visits in the other group. Statistical analysis was made through “one-way variance analysis (ANOVA)” and post-hoc Tukey HSD. A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant Results: Mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet counts were found to be 9,0 ± 1,0 fl and 239,6 ± 59,2 x 10 9 /L in unstable angina group, respectively; 8.9 ± 0.8 fl and 228.5 ± 74.1 x 10 9 /L in AMI patients, respectively; 7.5 ± 0.6 fl and 268.3 ± 73.5 x 10 9 /L in stable angina pectoris group, respectively; 7.2 ± 0.6 fl and 285.5 ± 80.9 x 10 9 /L in control group, respectively. Control subjects had significantly lower MPV and significantly higher platelet counts compared to each of the unstable angina and AMI groups (p<0.001, p<0.001; p=0.004, p<0.001, respectively). MPV was detected to be significantly lower in stable angina group, compared to unstable angina and AMI groups (p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively), whereas neither a significant difference was determined between stable angina and AMI groups in terms of MPV (p=0,126) nor was it between unstable angina and AMI groups (p=0.999). While no significant difference was detected between the number of platelets of stable angina group and that of control and unstable angina groups (p=0.586, p=0.076, respectively), stable angina group had significantly higher platelet counts than AMI patients (p=0.006). Such comparison between unstable angina and AMI groups also did not reach a significant level (p=0.791). Conclusion: Platelet count and mean platelet volume was detected to be increased in patients with acute coronary syndrome.