What does it mean if Plateletcrit value is high?

What is Plateletcrit (PCT) ?

PCT is the volume occupied by platelets in the blood as a percentage and calculated according to the formula PCT = platelet count × MPV / 10,000 (25-27). Under physiological conditions, the amount of platelets in the blood is maintained in an equilibrium state by regeneration and elimination. The normal range for PCT is 0.22–0.24%. In healthy subjects, platelet mass is closely regulated to keep it constant, while MPV is inversely related to platelet counts. Genetic and acquired factors, such as race, age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity, modify blood platelet count and MPV.

What could it mean if Plateletcrit value is high?

In previous studies it was demonstrated that PCT was highest in patients with:

• Ulcerative colitis (an inflammatory bowel disease that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in your digestive tract)
• Crohn’s disease (a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract). PCT may act as a specific and sensitive biomarker for determining active Crohn’s disease, especially in patients with an hs‐CRP level lower than 10.0 mg/L.

Plateletcrit and other platelet indices are not routinely used in clinical practice because […] they are not specific for (or predictive of) any particular pathological condition, and there is a considerable bias among studies, revealing a need for more high-quality epidemiological studies.

References:

• Öztürk ZA, Dag MS, Kuyumcu ME, Cam H, Yesil Y, Yilmaz N, et al. Could platelet indices be new biomarkers for inflammatory bowel diseases? Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2013;17:334–41. [PubMed]
• Plateletcrit: A sensitive biomarker for evaluating disease activity in Crohn’s disease with low hs‐CRP [link]

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