Thrombin Generation in Platelet-Poor Plasma Is Normal in Patients with Hereditary

Accessible online at: www.karger.com/pht Key Words Thrombin generation W Mucocutaneous haemorrhages Mild hereditary bleeding disorders presenting with mu-cocutaneous haemorrhages are usually difficult to diag-nose. We measured thrombin generation in platelet-poor plasma (TG-PPP) in 206 patients with a clinically unequivocal bleeding tendency: 45 with von Willebrand disease (vWD), 49 with platelet aggregation/secretion defects (PASD), 10 with a combination of both and 102 who did not fit the diagnostic criteria for any known hae-mostatic disorder. TG-PPP was not significantly different from controls in all patient groups, indicating that an abnormality in the plasmatic clotting system is unlikely to contribute to the bleeding in patients with type 1 vWD and PASD. In patients with undiagnosed mild hereditary bleeding disorders, there must be other mechanisms which explain the abnormal haemorrhagic tendency, most likely as yet unrecognized defects in platelet-vessel wall interaction. As a next step we plan to investigate thrombin generation in PRP. Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Base