Diagnostic utility of the ISTH bleeding assessment tool in patients with suspected platelet function disorders

Essentials The utility of bleeding assessment tools regarding platelet function disorders is still elusive. We studied consecutive patients in a prospective cohort study in a tertiary hospital. Substantially higher scorings were observed in patients with platelet function disorders. Bleeding assessment tools might provide a useful screening tool.

Bleeding assessment tools (BATs) have been widely implemented in the evaluation of patients with suspected bleeding disorders. However, diagnostic BAT utility regarding platelet function disorders is still elusive.

We aimed to assess the diagnostic value of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis BAT (ISTH-BAT) for platelet function disorders in clinical practice.

The clinical characteristics and laboratory data of all consecutive patients with a suspected bleeding disorder referred between January 2012 and March 2017 to an outpatient unit of a university hospital were prospectively collected. The diagnostic evaluation was performed according to current recommendations following a prespecified protocol and platelet function was tested using light transmission aggregometry as well as flow cytometry.

Five hundred and fifty-five patients were assessed; 66.9% were female, median age was 43.7 years (interquartile range [IQR] 29.3, 61.7). Confirmed platelet function disorder was diagnosed in 54 patients (9.7%), possible platelet function disorder in 64 patients (11.5%), and other disorders in 170 patients (30.6%). Median scoring of the ISTH-BAT was 2 in patients without a bleeding disorder (IQR 1, 3), 4 in patients with a possible platelet function disorder (2, 7), and 7 in patients with confirmed platelet function disorder (5, 9). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (the area under the curve [AUC]) was 0.75 (95% CI 0.70, 0.80).

Presence of a platelet function disorder was associated with substantially higher BAT scorings compared to patients without. Our data suggest that the ISTH-BAT provides a useful screening tool for patients with suspected platelet function disorders.