DOES MEAN PLATELET VOLUME SHOW DISEASE ACTIVITY IN BEHÇET’S DISEASE?

OZGE GUNDUZ¹ , BURCU T. AYANOGLU² , AYSEL GURLER³ , FATMA G. ERDOGAN⁴ , ASLIHAN ALHAN⁵

¹ Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Ankara - ² Dermatologist, Aksaray State Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Aksaray - ³ Professor of Dermatology, Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Ankara - ⁴ Associated Professor of Dermatology, Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Ankara - ⁵ Assistant Professor of Statistics, Ufuk University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Statistics, Ankara, Turkey

Introduction: The mean platelet volume (MPV) shows the average size of platelets in blood and indicates platelet function and activation, which are correlated with thrombosis and inflammation. Platelet activation might be related with the pathophysiology of Behçet’s disease (BD) since this disease is also prone to inflammation and thrombosis. We aimed to determine whether MPV can be used as a marker for BD in disease activation and severity.

Materials and methods: The data of 33 BD patients during the active and the inactive periods of the disease were collected retrospectively, and the results were then compared with 35 recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) patients and 60 healthy controls who were age- and gender- matched. If at least two clinical findings were present, BD was considered to be active.

Results: In the active period of BD, the MPV levels (8,6 fL) were slightly higher than those in RAS (8,4 fL) and control groups (8,4 fL) (p=0,148), however, the MPV levels of active period (8.66 fL) were significantly higher than the inactive period (8.3 fL), (p=0.007). Moreover, 8 BD patients with vascular event history had significantly higher levels of MPV during active (9,3 fL) than inactive period (7,3 fL) of the disease (p=0,012).

Conclusion: In conclusion, elevation of MPV levels should be considered for each patient individually, and during follow-ups MPV measurements can be valuable to determine disease activity. Additionally, an elevation in MPV could alarm clinician as BD is getting activated and that there might be an increased risk of vascular involvement with BD.