The decreased circulating platelet mass and its relation to bleeding time in chronic renal failure.

The mean platelet volume, measured optically and by the electrical impedance method, was analysed in the patients with chronic renal failure. All parameters describing the circulating platelet biomass except the platelet volume heterogeneity were decreased in these patients. There is a strong inverse relation between the Ivy bleeding time and the platelet mass in the patient group. Our results indicate that the smaller platelets circulating in the patients with chronic renal failure may contribute to the uremic bleeding diathesis, and disturbed thrombocytopoiesis occurs in chronic renal failure.