Brief Answer:
No clinical concern as rest of results are normal

Detailed Answer:
Good afternoon XXXX My name is Dr. Saghafi and I would like to give you some additional information that you've asked about your case.

You've shared some details of your medical background, medications, and results of medical exams and lab testing. You've been found to have an elevated MPV for the past several years which appears to be rather stable from one draw to the next. I am going to put your question down as you've stated it and then, respond:

For the past year (over 3 tests) my MPV has been around 12 and flagged high, while all other measures of CBC have been completely normal. Results are pasted below. Is this any concern? Would you recommend any follow up?

I don't know how much research you've done on this topic but if it's OK let me just tell you a bit about what you're asking. MPV stands for Mean Platelet Volume. It is a calculated average by machines that do blood counts. It is included as a standard number on most CBC's. The higher the number the larger in general your PLATELETS are in your bloodstream. The smaller the number, the smaller the platelet size turns out to be. Platelets are elements in your blood which aid in the clotting process.

So in your case, the calculated number of roughly 12 (being slightly above normal) simply means that your platelets on average are a little bigger than most people's. The significance of using these numbers is to get an idea of the platelet production capacity which is going on in your bone marrow. The most common reason we look at these numbers is for the purpose of getting information on patients who we believe to be THROMBOCYTOPENIC or suffering from low platelet counts. These patients typically have something going on of an automimmune nature, are suffering from cancer or cancer therapy or may be taking other medications which can cause low platelet counts. Of course, there are other causes to this condition but these are the major ones.

Usually, when these numbers are significant for clinical concern there are other parameters that are also abnormal within the blood screen. And when enough of these parameters become abnormal usually a lab will opt to do what is called a peripheral smear and physically look at the blood and its elements to try and assess what may be going on.

In your case, you've had several draws of stable but slightly high MPV's in the face of everything else being normal. Therefore, the worst thing we could possibly say about your platelets right now is that they are on average a little bigger than most other people's. This really has no clinical relevance and when I see these kinds of numbers on my patient's reports I always like to bring it to their attention only for academic purposes and so they don't end up worrying about values which are of no consequence.

These numbers should not further disturb you or cause anyone else to offer "follow ups" with more tests or more blood work simply based upon THESE numbers. If they did such testing my prediction is that it will all come out normal....except for the elevated MPV. This would obviously not be a productive use of your time, the lab's, or frugal protection of your finances since I'm sure you would be responsible for paying on these services.

In conclusion and to directly answer your questions:

1. Is this any concern? ANSWER: Of no concern at all
2. Would you recommend any follow-up? ANSWER: I would not recommend any follow-up for these numbers.

I hope you have a nice balance of your day wherever that may be and would like very much to hear your feedback on this interaction. If you would like to ask any other questions please feel free otherwise, your CLOSING THIS QUERY on your end would be greatly appreciated by myself and the good folks at Healthcaremagic.

Cheers!

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