The effect of pre-eclampsia on complete blood count, platelet count and mean platelet volume.

Pre-eclampsia is a condition observed during pregnancy and threatens the life of both mother and foetus. There are studies, which suggest platelets play a major role in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. The aim of this study is to compare the complete blood count (CBC) parameters, especially platelet count and mean platelet volume (MPV), in pre-eclamptic and normal pregnant women and to evaluate whether these parameters have a prognostic significance in determining the severity of eclampsia. The study and control groups consist of 56 pre-eclamptic and 43 normal pregnant women, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference according to CBC, platelet count and MPV when pre-eclamptic and severely pre-eclamptic patients were compared with controls. As a result, we observed no prognostic significance of CBC, platelet count and MPV on the presence and/or severity of pre-eclamptic condition. There are conflicting results especially on the significance of MPV in the literature, and possibly this confliction is due to the difference between methods and/or equipments used for automated blood count.