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Updated: Aug 16, 2025
Routine Screening Method for Microparticles in Platelet Transfusions
Published on: January 31, 2018
Red cell distribution width values and red cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio in Thoroughbred foals in the
Rebeca Scalco1,2, Monica Aleman1, Carlos E W Nogueira2
1Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
Objectives:
To report red cell distribution width (RDW) values, to calculate RDW-to-platelet ratio (RPR), and to investigate a possible correlation of RDW and RPR index values in neonatal foals classified as healthy or at risk based on clinical information from a population of foals up to 24 hours of life.
Design:
Retrospective study conducted from records and CBCs of foals born between June and November from 2018 to 2020 foaling seasons.
Setting:
Breeding farm.
Animals:
Three hundred and nine neonatal full-term Thoroughbred foals.
Interventions:
None.
Measurements And Main Results:
Foals were evaluated by a veterinarian within 15 minutes after birth, and a blood sample was collected within 24 hours of life. Based on clinical information, 88 of 309 foals (28.4%) were considered at risk of perinatal disease, and 201 were healthy. Mean gestational age for the foals was 346.3 ± 9.7 days. RDW values did not differ between groups. Gestational length demonstrated to have a negative correlation with RDW (r = -0.156, P = 0.005) and mean corpuscular volume (r = -0.135, P = 0.01), indicating a link of these variables to foal maturity. RPR index was higher for at-risk (0.073 ± 0.018) than for healthy foals (0.068 ± 0.014, P = 0.01).
Conclusion:
RPR might be a promising early indicator of disease for the field triage of neonatal foals.
