Mean platelet volume of normal pregnant women and severe preeclamptic women in Siriraj Hospital.

This study only shows that MPV in severe preeclamptic women is statistically greater than in normal pregnant women. The increase in MPV occurs while there are still no changes in platelet number. MPV may be better and more sensitive than platelet number in detecting changes in platelets. This may be useful in high risk patients. The study neither reveals that increase in MPV antecedes the development of preeclampsia nor can it predict the severity of the disease. There should be further prospective studies on MPV in the future both in preeclamptic women and normal pregnant women.