Thrombocytosis in 158 cats (2011–2018)

Abstract

Objectives Thrombocytosis is an uncommon hematologic abnormality that is associated with various physiologic, metabolic, inflammatory and neoplastic conditions in people and dogs. Thrombocytosis is not a well-described abnormality in cats. The objective of this study was to classify thrombocytosis in cats based on underlying disease processes and severity, and to compare this with a control population of cats. Methods A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing the medical records of cats with increased (>600 × 103/µl; thrombocytosis group) and normal (200–600 × 103/µl; 2:1 age-matched control group) platelet counts between 2011 and 2018. Platelet counts were estimated based on blood smear assessment in all cats. Cats were classified by the severity (mild, moderate or marked) of thrombocytosis. Diagnoses were recorded for all cases, and were classified broadly into either neoplasia, endocrine or inflammatory disease. Results In total, 158 cats were identified with thrombocytosis, with 315 cats in the control group. Non-neoplastic inflammatory disease was the most common diagnosis in both groups (54.4% in cats with thrombocytosis and 56.2% in controls; P = 0.77); however, gastrointestinal diseases were more common in cats with thrombocytosis (75.6%) when compared with controls (34.5%; P <0.0001). Neoplasia was diagnosed more frequently in cats with thrombocytosis (44.3%) compared with the control group (25.4%; P <0.0001). Round cell tumor was the most common neoplasia diagnosis in both groups, but gastrointestinal and multicentric lymphoma were diagnosed more frequently in cats with thrombocytosis compared with control cats. No association between the severity of thrombocytosis and etiology was identified. Conclusions and relevance Thrombocytosis in cats is more commonly associated with gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary or immune-mediated diseases when compared with a control population. Neoplasia, especially multicentric and gastrointestinal lymphoma, was more commonly diagnosed in cats with thrombocytosis when compared with control cats.

Hemogram-Derived Inflammatory Markers in Cats with Chronic Kidney Disease

“…Similar to NLR and MLR, both lymphopenia and thrombocytosis could contribute to high PLR values. In our study, only a small percentage of cats with advanced CKD exhibited mild thrombocytosis, defined as platelet counts ranging from 600 to 800 × 10 9 /L [ 46 ]. Thrombocytosis may be a result of chronic inflammation [ 46 , 47 ], but blood platelet counts were not reported to be significantly associated with survival in cats with CKD [ 43 ].…”

“…In our study, only a small percentage of cats with advanced CKD exhibited mild thrombocytosis, defined as platelet counts ranging from 600 to 800 × 10 9 /L [ 46 ]. Thrombocytosis may be a result of chronic inflammation [ 46 , 47 ], but blood platelet counts were not reported to be significantly associated with survival in cats with CKD [ 43 ]. However, overreactive platelets have been reported in cats with uremic crisis [ 48 ].…”

A Retrospective Comparative Evaluation of Selected Blood Cell Ratios, Acute Phase Proteins, and Leukocyte Changes Suggestive of Inflammation in Cats

“…This can explain the lower strength of correlations observed for MLR compared to NLR. Inflammation is able to cause only a mild increase in the number of platelets in most cases, and this can justify the poorer performance of PLR in this study [ 50 ]. Interestingly, the best (negative) correlation was between NLR and the two negative acute-phase markers (albumin and AGR) studied, and these had a negative correlation with all three blood cell ratios.…”