Mean platelet volume values in preeclampsia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Mean platelet volume (MPV) has been explored in several observational studies in the field of preeclampsia and current evidence seem to be conflicting. The purpose of the present meta-analysis is to evaluate the reported MPV differences in patients that develop preeclampsia and to compare them to those of otherwise healthy women.

We searched the international literature using the Medline (1966-2018), Scopus (2004-2018), EMBASE (1947-2018) and Clinicaltrials.gov (2008-2018) databases. Statistical meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.3 software.

The meta-analysis was based on outcomes reported from 50 studies that included 14,614 women. MPV was significantly higher in preeclamptic than healthy pregnant women (7905 women, MD: 1.04 fl, 95% CI [0.76, 1.32]). The mean difference was less evident among women with mild preeclampsia (6604 women, MD: 0.65 fl, 95% CI [0.19, 1.11]), compared to the severe ones (6119 women, MD: 1.28 fl, 95% CI [0.75, 1.80]). The results of the univariate meta-regression analysis showed that region, sample size, time to analysis, anticoagulant, platelet count and NOS score did not affect the outcomes of the meta-analysis.

The findings of our meta-analysis suggest that mean platelet volume represents a promising biomarker for the detection and follow-up of patients that develop preeclampsia. However, given that the available evidence is drawn from case-control studies, future cohorts are needed in this field to accurately determine optimal timing and cut-off values that may be used in the clinical setting.