Pre-transfusion platelet counts and bleeding in very low birth weight infants.

OBJECTIVE

Platelet transfusion thresholds for very low birth weight (VLBW, <1500 g) infants vary widely, and the role of bleeding on platelet transfusion thresholds is uncertain.

STUDY

DESIGN

This observational birth cohort study of VLBW infants born in 7 hospitals across the US examined pre-transfusion platelet counts in infants with and without bleeding who received at least 1 platelet transfusion in the first 3 weeks of life using mixed effect linear regression models.

RESULTS

Of the 210 transfused infants, most (76%) had bleeding; intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) was the most common (61%) bleeding type. Pre-transfusion platelet counts were not different among infants with or without bleeding diagnoses (56.3 vs 58.5 × 103/µL, respectively; P = 0.7). However, infants with severe IVH had higher platelet counts (68.9 × 103/µL) compared to the entire cohort (53.5 × 103/µL, P = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Infants with or without bleeding diagnoses had similar pre-transfusion platelet counts; infants with severe IVH had higher pre-transfusion platelet counts.