Platelet aggregatory responses to low-dose collagen are maintained in hirudin-anticoagulated whole blood for 24 h when stored at room temperature.

Whole blood from 15 volunteers was anticoagulated with hirudin (200U/l) and the response to a known submaximal concentration of collagen (0.6 microg/ml) was tested by impedance aggregometry. In 8 volunteers platelet counts were also taken before and after the maximum aggregatory response. These tests were repeated when the samples had rested for 24 h at room temperature. The median [interquartile range] aggregatory response immediately after sampling was 17.3 [16.7-18.4] ohms. At 24 h it was 17.7 [15.8-19.3] ohms (p = 0.88) although variance was increased (p = 0.006). The immediate platelet count before collagen exposure was 438 [381-510] x 10(9)/l and 258 [227-297] x 10(9)/l post-collagen. At 24 h the platelet count was 448 [443-473] x 10(9)/l (p = 0.224 versus immediate count) but variance was not increased (p = 0.215). After full aggregation the count fell to 284 [234-304] x 10(9)/l (p = 0.592 versus early post-collagen). Variances were similar (p = 0.558). Aggregate response ratios increased non-significantly after 24 h from 0.59 [0.53-0.62] to 0.64 [0.51-0.68] although variance was increased (p = 0.021). Full macroaggregatory responses by impedance aggregometry were seen after 24h storage of whole blood with hirudin at room temperature. This suggests both that distant assessment of platelet function using a standardized method is possible and a potential role of thrombin inhibition for platelet storage.