Images in Clinical Medicine
Platelet Satellitism
N Engl J Med 1998; 338:591February 26, 1998
- Article
Figure 1 Platelet satellitism, an in vitro phenomenon of platelet rosetting around polymorphonuclear neutrophils, is observed exclusively in blood treated with EDTA as an anticoagulant at room temperature. Neither heparin nor citrate produces rosetting. The proposed mechanisms include immunologic bonding through EDTA-dependent antiplatelet and antineutrophil IgG autoantibodies directed against the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa complex and Fc γ receptors of platelets and neutrophils, respectively, and nonimmunologic adherence mediated by thrombospondin or the alpha-granule protein of other platelets. The results of both in vivo and in vitro platelet-function tests are normal. Phagocytosis of platelets by polymorphonuclear leukocytes and monocytes is sometimes seen. Severe platelet satellitism is an important cause of spurious thrombocytopenia.
Nasir Shahab, M.D.
Maria L. Evans, M.D.
University Hospitals and Clinics, Columbia, MO 65203- Citing Articles (3)
Citing Articles
1
Massood Hosseinzadeh, Perikala V. Kumar, Mohammad Rahemi. (2006) Platelet Satellitism in Lupus Erythematosus Resolving after Treatment. Acta Haematologica 115:1-2, 131-132
CrossRef2
Willie J. Cowart, MS, Francisco U. Nepacena, BSMT, Young-Ran Kim, PhD, James E. Gill, PhD, Kenneth A. Davis, PhD. (2000) A Rapid and Accurate Closed-Tube Immunoassay for Platelets on an Automated Hematology Analyzer. American Journal of Clinical Pathology 114:1, 47-56
CrossRef3
(1998) Platelet Satellitism. New England Journal of Medicine 339:2, 131-132
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