Analysis of Platelet Indices and its correlation with platelet count In Dengue

Abstract

Dengue is a global arboviral disease of growing public health concern. Several parameters have been used to detect the infection and severity of dengue. Recent evidence suggests that platelet indices can be used to assess the severity and prognosis of dengue infection. This retrospective study aims at assessing the role of the platelet indices – Mean Platelet Volume (MPV), Platelet Distribution Width, (PDW), P-LCR (Platelet Large Cell Ratio) and Plateletcrit (PCT) and its correlation with the platelet count in 50 Dengue NS1 antigen positive cases and to find the sex ratio and the age-wise distribution of the dengue cases. The indices were obtained using an Automated Hematology analyzer and were compared with the platelet count, considering p-value <0.05 as statistically significant. Thrombocytopenia was found in a majority of the cases and PDW and PLCR were found to be inversely proportional to the platelet count. MPV was found to have no correlation with the platelet count. Hence, we conclude that Platelet count, PDW, and P-LCR can be used as predictors of Dengue infection and severity, whereas MPV cannot be used as a predictor of Dengue infection or severity.