A new approach to detect reticulated platelets stained with thiazole orange in thrombocytopenic patients.

Recent studies have shown that reticulated platelets stained with Thiazole Orange (T.O.) are useful markers for thrombopoiesis. The percentage of T.O. positive platelets tends to be inconsistent using the original method, especially when the peripheral blood platelet count is very low. We measured T.O. positive platelet levels in patients with severe thrombocytopenic disorders, using concentrated platelet-rich plasma and carrying out a two-color analysis involving T.O. and an anti-glycoprotein IIb/IIIa monoclonal antibody. This method allowed us to obtain consistent T.O. positive platelet rates in patients with thrombocytopenia whose platelet counts were below 20 approximately 30x10(9)/l. By this method, the T.O. positive rates of platelets from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura patients were found to be significantly higher than in the control group. The T.O. positive rates of other thrombocytopenic disorders were similar to those of the control group. These results are consistent with those previously reported. We conclude that our technique of measuring of T.O. positive platelets using platelet-rich plasma is useful for analyzing severe thrombocytopenic disorders.