Is there a diagnostic value for the platelet indices patients in pulmonary embolism?

Background: Pulmonary embolism is a common disease with a high mortality risk. It has recently been reported that platelet indices may be diagnostic in pulmonary embolism. Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine the diagnostic value of platelet indices in acute pulmonary embolism. Methods: The study group was composed of 61 patients diagnosed with pulmonary embolism and a control group of 67 subjects without pulmonary embolism. Patient age, sex, leukocyte and platelet number, hemoglobin concentration (Hb), mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, red blood cell distribution width, C‐reactive protein, D‐Dimer, and troponin I levels were retrospectively analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results: There was no significant difference between age and platelet number of pulmonary embolism and control group. In pulmonary embolism group, platelet distribution width level was significantly high (p = 0.002), whereas mean platelet volume level was significantly lower (p = 0.038). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that a mean platelet volume cut‐off of 9 fL had a sensitivity of 35%, a specificity of 89.55%, and area under the curve of 0.589 for pulmonary embolism, while a platelet distribution width cut‐off of 12.8 fL had a sensitivity of 61%, a specificity of 71.64%, and area under the curve of 0.661. Platelet distribution width and D‐dimer levels had a significant positive correlation with each other, whereas there was no significant correlation between mean platelet volume and D‐dimer. Conclusion: Platelet distribution width values of the pulmonary embolism group were higher than those of control group. Although the area under the curve of platelet distribution width is slightly better than for platelet number or mean platelet volume, it does not seem that this parameter has better diagnostic accuracy than the other two.