Is mean platelet volume a predictive marker for the diagnosis of COVID‐19 in children?

Abstract

Aim To investigate the mean platelet volume (MPV) in asymptomatic children infected with COVID‐19. Methods The study included 55 children infected with COVID‐19 and 60 healthy children for the comparison of leukocyte and thrombocyte count, MPV and serum C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels. Demographic data and clinical findings of all the participants were recorded, including age, gender, weight, temperature, cough, shortness of breath and contact history. Results The MPV values were determined to be statistically significantly high ( P < .001) and the lymphocyte values were significantly low (p:0.002) in the asymptomatic children infected with COVID‐19 compared with the healthy control children. No difference was determined between the groups in respect of CRP level, leukocyte and thrombocyte counts ( P > .05). The optimal cutoff point for MPV was determined as 8.74 fl (Area under the curve—AUC:0.932) with 81.82% sensitivity and 95% specificity for the determination of children infected with COVID‐19. A cutoff value of <2.12/mm 3 for lymphocytes (AUC:0.670) was determined with 49.09% sensitivity and 86.67% specificity for the prediction of COVID‐19. Based on the ROC analysis, the sensitivity and specificity of MPV were determined to be higher than that of lymphocyte levels. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that MPV levels are significantly high in asymptomatic children infected with COVID‐19 demonstrate that this is an important predictive value and has better predictive capacity than lymphocyte values. The evaluation of MPV and lymphocyte levels together could increase diagnostic success in asymptomatic COVID‐19 patients.

Retrospective evaluation of laboratory findings of suspected paediatric COVID-19 patients with positive and negative RT-PCR

“…In the present study, the MPV level of positive paediatric cases was found to be statistically significantly higher than negative cases. In the study of Gümüs et al, MPV level was found to be significantly higher in paediatric positive cases, and they predicted that this was a predictive value to help diagnosis, especially in asymptomatic paediatric cases [21]. The findings of the present study also support this result.…”

Mean Platelet Volume as an early predictor for the complication of COVID-19

“…Several studies have reported that MPV changes are associated with morbidity and mortality in patients with diseases such as sepsis, diabetes mellitus, myocardial infarction, and chronic inflammatory disorders [8][9][10][11] . Although there are several studies about the association of MPV with the diagnosis, morbidity, and mortality of COVID-19 patients, the results were contradictory [11][12][13][14] . Since we thought that these conflicting results seen in previous studies were due to their small number of patient groups or their study design, we aimed to investigate the effects of MPV on hospitalization and mortality with a large patient population.…”

Pathological effects of SARS-CoV-2 on hematological and immunological cells: Alterations in count, morphology, and function

“…Platelets, in addition to being the major cells in thrombosis and homeostasis, are also involved in inflammatory processes and immune responses [153] , [154] , [155] , [156] , [157] . Adverse changes in the platelet count and function are responsible for coagulation drawbacks and thrombotic complications in COVID-19 patients and increase the risk of lethal outcomes [156] , [158] , [159] , [160] , [161] , [162] .…”

“…An increase in the mean platelet volume (MPV) is directly related to the severity of COVID-19 disease and the rate of platelet activation [155] , [162] , [166] , [168] . However, a prospective study of asymptomatic children that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection found a high MPV even without any clinical signs ( Table 4 ) [154] . A possible underlying mechanism for a high MPV in COVID-19 patients may be an increase in the release of young platelet in response to platelet destruction after infection and cytokines such as IL-6 [154] , [157] .…”

“…However, a prospective study of asymptomatic children that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection found a high MPV even without any clinical signs ( Table 4 ) [154] . A possible underlying mechanism for a high MPV in COVID-19 patients may be an increase in the release of young platelet in response to platelet destruction after infection and cytokines such as IL-6 [154] , [157] . A study reported that MPV/platelet count ratio (MPR) had a correlation with COVID-19 severity as the patients with elevated MPR were more prone to severe pneumonia and were at a high risk of death [157] .…”