Thrombocytopaenia, platelet dysfunction common in Parkinson’s disease

Despite having no such history, about a third of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) show evidence of thrombocytopaenia or platelet dysfunction, reports a recent study.

Of 106 PD patients (mean age 62.5 years, 51.9 percent men), 32.1 percent (n=34) showed at least one platelet abnormality. The most common was prolonged closure time of the platelet function analyser 100, which was present in 17.9 percent (n=19). This was followed by prolonged bleeding time (11.3 percent; n=12) and thrombocytopaenia (9.4 percent; n=10). All patients underwent preoperative evaluation for deep brain stimulation surgery.

All participants had normal prothrombin time (mean, 10.3 seconds) and activated partial prothrombin time (mean, 27.6 seconds).

Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that the score in the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale-III motor subscale with medication off was significantly different between PD patients with vs without platelet abnormalities (odds ratio [OR], 0.954, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.914–0.996). The same was true for the use of selegiline (OR, 6.069, 95 percent CI, 1.333–27.625).

Of note, “not all the platelet abnormalities in PD patients could be identified by any single test; thus, we suggest the evaluation should include as much tests as the hospital can provide to increase the detection rate of platelet abnormalities,” the researchers said.

“Whenever there are platelet abnormalities, either the surgery should be postponed or some management such as platelet transfusion should be performed before or during the surgery,” they added.