Spurious Thrombocytopenia in Automated Platelet Count

Abstract

Spurious thrombocytopenia is a well-known phenomenon observed with the widespread use of hematology analyzers (HAs). In this study, 355 specimens with pseudo-thrombocytopenia (PTCP) were evaluated via epidemiology, identification, remedies, and platelet (PLT) count. Data showed that anticoagulants such as citrate and/or heparin-dependent PTCP (16.0%) became increasingly common, whereas ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-induced PTCP (49.1%) remained the most frequent. We note that that nearly half of the patients with PTCP had veritable decreased PLT counts, even after PLT levels had been corrected. Our findings suggest that there were seasonal changes in patients with PTCP: PLT levels were higher in spring, compared with other seasons, with winter levels being the lowest. There were higher risks of PTCP for individuals with malignant neoplasms, liver diseases, infection, and hematologic disease, compared with other conditions. PTCP is related to diseases, rather than being a simple phenomenon, and thus demands careful attention.