Platelets
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) which rapidly evolved from an outbreak in Wuhan, China into a pandemic that has resulted in over millions of infections and over hundreds of thousands of mortalities worldwide. Various coagulopathies have been reported in association with COVID-19, including disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), sepsis-induced coagulopathy (SIC), local microthrombi, venous thromboembolism (VTE), arterial thrombotic complications, and thrombo-inflammation. There is a plethora of publications and conflicting data on hematological and hemostatic derangements in COVID-19 with some data suggesting the link to disease progress, severity and/or mortality. ⋯ Of those, a link between thrombocytopenia and COVID-19 severity or mortality was suggested. In this opinion report, we examine the published evidence of hematological and hemostatic laboratory derangements in COVID-19 and the interrelated SARS-CoV-2 induced inflammation, with a focussed discussion on platelet count alterations. We explore whether thrombocytopenia could be a potential disease biomarker and we provide recommendations for future studies in this regard.
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Review Comparative Study
Platelet functions and activities as potential hematologic parameters related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease that currently lacks standardized and established laboratory markers to evaluate its severity. In COVID-19 patients, the number of platelets (PLTs) and dynamic changes of PLT-related parameters are currently a concern. The present paper discusses the potential link between PLT parameters and COVID-19. ⋯ These alterations reflect the hypercoagulable state present in severe COVID-19 patients, which could promote microthrombosis in the lungs, as well as in other organs. Further information and more advanced hematological parameters related to PLTs are needed to better estimate this link, also considering COVID-19 patients at different disease stages and stratified in different cohorts based on preexisting co-morbidity, age, and gender. Increasing the understanding of PLT functions in COVID-19 will undoubtedly improve our knowledge on disease pathogenesis, clinical management, and therapeutic options, but could also lead to the development of more precise therapeutic strategies for COVID-19 patients.
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Switching from a potent P2Y12 blocker to clopidogrel is not uncommon for antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of this de-escalation strategy. Medical literature databases were searched for analysis comparing continued potent antiplatelet therapy and switching to clopidogrel with no language restrictions from inception to 07/May/2018. ⋯ Insignificant difference was also observed in major bleeding (0.99, 0.62-1.60; P = 0.97), all-cause death (0.95, 0.61-1.46; P = 0.81), cardiovascular death (0.66, 0.31-1.42; P = 0.29), myocardial infarction (1.12, 0.80-1.58; P = 0.51), stent thrombosis (1.09, 0.50-2.36; P = 0.83), unplanned revascularization (1.09, 0.83-1.41; P = 0.54), and stroke (1.16, 0.62-2.19; P = 0.64). In conclusion, de-escalation of antiplatelet therapy is associated with nonsignificant differences in both ischemic events and major bleeding compared with standard potent antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. The feasibility and even superiority of this strategy need to be elucidated by further randomized trials.
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The effect of CYP2C19 gene polymorphism on clinical outcomes of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) treated with clopidogrel remains controversial. Ethnicity has been proposed to influence clopidogrel response following stent implantation in CAD patients with different CYP2C19 genotypes. Furthermore, Asian populations are reported to have a relatively greater prevalence of CYP2C19 loss-of-function (LOF) alleles. ⋯ Subgroup analysis between three nationalities of China, Korea, and Japan demonstrated that the risk of MACE among Chinese LOF allele carriers was the greatest (OR: 2.28; 95% CI:1.91 to 2.73). In conclusion, among Asian populations with CAD undergoing stent implantation, CYP2C19 LOF allele carriers are at greater risk of adverse cardiovascular events and lower risk of bleeding compared with non-carriers. Genetic testing may be helpful for clinicians to personalize antiplatelet therapy especially in Asian population.
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Review Meta Analysis
Pretreatment thrombocytosis as a significant prognostic factor in malignant mesothelioma: a meta-analysis.
The current meta-analysis analyzed the prognostic impact of elevated platelet count before the treatment of malignant mesothelioma (MM). We performed a search for articles published up to April 15, 2016 in PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science, which evaluated elevated platelet count and survival outcome of MM. STATA version 12 was used for statistical analysis. ⋯ The HR was 1.66 (95% CI = 1.41-1.91) in the multivariable group and no significant heterogeneity was observed (I2 = 0.0%, p = 0.476). In conclusion, high pretreatment platelet count resulted in poor OS in MM. Therefore, platelet count could be an adequate and useful factor of prognosis for MM.