Studies have shown that mortality from sepsis is affected by the rapid decline in platelet counts

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening disease caused by tissue and organ damage caused by the body's overreaction to infection

Recently, researchers at Nagoya University and their colleagues found that a large decrease in platelets, rather than an abnormally low platelet count, increases the risk of death from sepsis

It is well known that during sepsis, a serious blood disease called disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) can form tiny blood clots in the bloodstream, resulting in thrombocytopenia

At the same time, there is a theory that in sepsis-related DIC, the main influence on the risk of death is the degree of platelet depletion (rapid decline), rather than the absolute platelet count

In this context, researchers from Nagoya University and their colleagues conducted a study to study the importance of thrombocytopenia on the mortality of sepsis.

The results showed that the degree of thrombocytopenia was related to the risk of death related to sepsis, but not to the absolute platelet count, indicating that the risk of death is higher when the platelet count drops rapidly

The researchers concluded that compared with the absolute platelet count, the degree of thrombocytopenia may be a more reasonable standard for assessing the risk of death from DIC related to sepsis

Original title:

Relative platelet reductions provide better pathophysiologic signatures of coagulopathies in sepsis

DOI

s41598-021-93635-5