Electric impedance platelet aggregometry in cardiac surgery patients: A comparative study of two technologies

Platelet function tests are suggested to assess platelet reactivity before cardiac and major non-cardiac surgery. Different point-of-care platelet function tests are available. Among these, electric impedance platelet aggregometry (EIPA) (Multiplate®, MP) is one of the most widely used techniques. Recently, a new EIPA system (Rotem Platelet®, RP) was released. This is a comparative study of platelet function measured with MP and RP. Fifty cardiac surgery patients were admitted to this study. All the patients received a preoperative platelet function test with both the MP and the RP; for each technology, two tests were performed: the ADPtest (investigating P2Y12 receptor platelet reactivity) and the TRAPtest (investigating the thrombin-dependent platelet reactivity). ADP-based platelet reactivity values demonstrated a significant (p = 0.019) correlation between the MP and the RP; and a marginally significant (p = 0.042) correlation for TRAP-based tests. The Bland-Altman analysis of the ADPtest demonstrated a positive bias of 5.94 units (MP > RP) and a percentage error of 88%. For the TRAPtest, there was a positive bias of 12 units (MP > RP) and a percentage error of 89%. In patients who were preoperatively treated with P2Y12 receptor inhibitors, only the MP ADPtest was positively associated with the days from drug discontinuation (p = 0.003). Platelet function assessment with RP greatly differs from the equivalent MP measure, and no correction value can be applied due to the low level of precision. This applies both to ADPtest and TRAPtest. The MP ADPtest is more reliable for platelet reactivity after discontinuation of P2Y12 receptor inhibitors.