A method for quantitative determination of flow induced human platelet adhesion and aggregation

Adhesivity and aggregability of blood platelets may reflect normal and diseased states. A quantitative assessment of such reactivity should thus provide further insight into disease mechanism. The well defined conditions of stagnation point flow using platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) as fluid permit quantitative treatment of the formation of platelet microthrombi on the stagnation plate. By measuring the growth kinetics (photometry) and corresponding morphology (light- and electron microscopy) of the microthrombus, platelet adhesion as well as aggregation could be analyzed separately by means of a quantitative procedure. Parameters are evaluated for PRP samples obtained from patients exhibiting deep venous thrombosis, arterial angiopathy or myocardial infarction, respectively. The results obtained demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method for quantifying platelet reactivity as reflected by type and degree of flow induced platelet deposition. This, in turn, provides a basis for correlating the in vitro findings with the disease state.