QUALITATIVELY ABRNOMAL PLATELETS
(Secondary to medications)
Andy Nguyen,M.D./ UT-Medical School at Houston, Pathology/
Last Revision on: 12/9/96
- Pathological Basis:
- Penicillin and its derivatives have been associated with
acquired abnormalities of platelets.
Such abnormalities
are thought to be due to:
- Altered membrane characteristics.
- Altered metabolism of prostagladins.
- Altered metabolism of 3',5'-cclic AMP.
- Aspirin acetylates cyclooxygenase, thus inhibiting the
platelet prostagladin pathway. This inhibition is
irreversible and persists for the life span of patelets
(7 to 10 days).
- Treatment:
Discontinue the offending drugs and substitute with
alternate ones.
Diagnostic Criteria:
- Patient_on_Penicillins_or_Cephalothins
- Bleeding_time:abnormal
- Plt_aggregation,with_ADP:abnormal
- Patient_on_Aspirin_containing_medications
- Plt_aggregation,with_Collagen:abnormal
- Plt_aggregation,with_Epinephrine:abnormal