Platelet glass bead retention is useful in monitoring response to 1-deamino-8-D-arginine-vasopressin (d-DAVP).

Seven patients with a suspected mild bleeding disorder had consistently abnormal glass bead platelet retention. This was the only coagulation abnormality detected in six of these patients; the seventh individual showed evidence of mild von Willebrand disease. Nevertheless, platelets from the six that were studied behaved in a similar fashion in the two-stage platelet retention assay of McPherson and Zucker. This indicated that their platelets were defective in maintaining repetitive platelet-platelet interaction in the second phase of this assay but functioned normally in the first phase. Their one-stage platelet retention defects consistently normalized following the infusion of 1-deamino-8-D-arginine-vasopressin (d-DAVP). The duration of response was variable and easily defined by monitoring this parameter. These findings suggest platelet retention analysis may be useful in identifying mild bleeding disorder patients, who may benefit from d-DAVP.