Assessing the Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Psychiatric Patients on Antipsychotic Medication Using Platelet Indices
Journal Title: International Journal of Medical and Health Sciences - Year 2017, Vol 6, Issue 3
Abstract
Background: Psychiatric patents have a predisposition towards developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). This risk is largely related to the medications used in treating the disorders. The objective of the study was to assess the risk of venous thromboembolism in Psychiatric Patients on antipsychotic drugs using platelet indices. Methodology: This was a case-control study involving 92 participants comprising of 51-psychatric patients on antipsychotics and 41 non psychiatric persons (blood donors) as controls. Blood (2.5mls) was collected from both subjects and controls into separate EDTA anticoagulant tubes. A full blood count was performed on each sample using Haematology Auto analyser. Platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) were extracted from the result of each participant. Clinical data of each subjects including age, sex, weight, height, duration of antipsychotic drug use, class of antipsychotic drugs were obtained from their respective case-files. Results: The mean platelet count of 194.5±59.80 X109/L for the subjects was significantly lower than 338.8±159.07 X109/L for the controls. On the other hand, the MPV value of the subjects (9.4±0.85) was significantly higher than the MPV of 8.7±1.05 for the controls. (p=0.01 in both cases). Furthermore, there was a statistically significant association between the mean MPV of the subjects and the duration of antipsychotic use. (p=0.01). Conclusion: A significantly high MPV (a biomarker of platelet activation) may portends VTE risk. Hence, MPV may be used as a surrogate biomarker in assessing VTE risk in psychiatric patients.
Authors and Affiliations
Timothy Amos Ekwere, FMCPath, Jombo Henry Effiong
Keywords
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