Coated platelet levels correlate with bleed volume in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Coated platelets are produced on dual agonist stimulation with collagen and thrombin. These highly procoagulant platelets are critical to normal hemostasis, and an earlier study demonstrated decreased coated platelet production in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. We have expanded this observation to investigate if coated platelet levels correlate with bleed volume in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. METHODS Coated platelet levels and bleed volume were determined in 45 patients with a diagnosis of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. RESULTS There was an inverse relationship between coated platelet levels and bleed volume (r=-0.38, P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS These data support a link between decreased coated platelet synthesis and the severity of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.