Nagler, Michael; Keller, Peter; Alberio, Lorenzo (2014). A case of EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia: simple recognition of an underdiagnosed and misleading phenomenon. BMC Clinical Patholoy, 14(19), pp. 1-4. BioMed Central 10.1186/1472-6890-14-19
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1. BMC Clin Pathol. 2014 May 1;14:19. doi: 10.1186/1472-6890-14-19. eCollection
2014.
A case of EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia: simple recognition of an
underdiagnosed and misleading phenomenon.
Nagler M, Keller P, Siegrist D, Alberio L.
Author information:
Department of Hematology and Central Hematology Laboratory, Inselspital
University Hospital and University of Berne, CH-3010 Berne, Switzerland.
BACKGROUND: EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia (EDTA-PTCP) is a common
laboratory phenomenon with a prevalence ranging from 0.1-2% in hospitalized
patients to 15-17% in outpatients evaluated for isolated thrombocytopenia.
Despite its harmlessness, EDTA-PTCP frequently leads to time-consuming, costly
and even invasive diagnostic investigations. EDTA-PTCP is often overlooked
because blood smears are not evaluated visually in routine practice and
histograms as well as warning flags of hematology analyzers are not interpreted
correctly. Nonetheless, EDTA-PTCP may be diagnosed easily even by general
practitioners without any experiences in blood film examinations. This is the
first report illustrating the typical patterns of a platelet (PLT) and white
blood cell (WBC) histograms of hematology analyzers.
CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old female patient of Caucasian origin was referred
with suspected acute leukemia and the crew of the emergency unit arranged
extensive investigations for work-up. However, examination of EDTA blood sample
revealed atypical lymphocytes and an isolated thrombocytopenia together with
typical patterns of WBC and PLT histograms: a serrated curve of the platelet
histogram and a peculiar peak on the left side of the WBC histogram. EDTA-PTCP
was confirmed by a normal platelet count when examining citrated blood.
CONCLUSION: Awareness of typical PLT and WBC patterns may alert to the presence
of EDTA-PTCP in routine laboratory practice helping to avoid unnecessary
investigations and over-treatment.
PMCID: PMC4012027
PMID: 24808761 [PubMed]
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Further Contribution) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Haematology, Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Medicine and Hospital Pharmacy (DOLS) > Clinic of Haematology and Central Haematological Laboratory |
UniBE Contributor: |
Nagler, Michael, Keller, Peter, Alberio, Lorenzo |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health |
ISSN: |
1472-6890 |
Publisher: |
BioMed Central |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Verena Zwahlen |
Date Deposited: |
22 Aug 2014 07:41 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 14:34 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1186/1472-6890-14-19 |
PubMed ID: |
24808761 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.52590 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/52590 |
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