GTH 2017, 61st Annual Meeting of the Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis Research

Platelet aggregation testing on a routine coagulation analyzer

W. Miesbach, B. Zwinge, R. Toenges, L. Karmal, V. Makki, S. Müller, S. Gundermann (Frankfurt, Germany)

Laboratory tests
Date: 17.02.2017,
Time: 17:15 - 18:15

Objective: Measurement of thrombocyte function is time consuming and technical challenging influenced by many pre-analytical and analytical variables as well as the lack of standardization and automation.

Methods: Two different aggregometers were compared: the fully-automated routine coagulation analyzer Sysmex CS-system (Siemens) and the semi-automated APACT aggregometer (Haemochrom), a specific instrument for platelet aggregation analysis. On both analyzers platelet aggregation agonists from Hyphen© were applied, including adenosine diphosphate (ADP), arachidonic acid (AA), ristocetin (RI), collagen (CO) and epinephrine (EPI). In total, 123 patient samples were investigated: 22 patients taking ASS, 20 patients taking clopidogrel (17 plus ASS), 20 patients with different known platelet dysfunctions and 61 healthy controls. Aim of this study was to test the accuracy and comparability of the two systems for platelet function testing.

Results: Overall, there was good correlation between both systems for maximum aggregation and maximum velocity with correlation coefficients in the range of 0.83-0.97 and 0.77-0.95, respectively. For patients with ASS intake the maximum aggregation of AA was reduced at median 5.5 (95 %SI 0.4 – 18.7) at CS vs. 14.1 (95 %SI 3.8 – 32.4) at APACT.

Conclusion: Platelet function measurements performed with the CS system and APACT show comparable results and a strong positive correlation. The automated processing of platelet aggregation testing on the Sysmex CS analyzer reduced the hands-on time and provides a step forward to a more standardized processing.