Diagnostic value of mean platelet volume for Chinese patient with acute coronary syndrome presenting to an emergency department in Hong Kong

Objective: To determine the diagnostic value of mean platelet volume in local Chinese with acute coronary syndrome who attended emergency department in Hong Kong. Design: cross sectional study. Setting: emergency department of a local hospital. Methods: Data of adult Chinese patients presented to a local emergency department (ED) with chest pain were retrieved from 1st October 2010 to 31st October 2010. Blood test for mean platelet volume (MPV) was drawn, and its relationship with development of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was studied. Results: 429 patients were enrolled and 77 (17.9%) of them were diagnosed to have ACS. Non-statistically significant trend of elevated MPV was observed in ACS group vs non ACS group (8.0+-1.12 fL vs. 7.8+-1.03 fL, p=0.06). Subgroup analysis was performed on patients presented within 4 hours of onset of chest pain. Both MPV and adjusted MPV were higher in ACS group (p<0.03, and p<0.01 respectively). Cut-off 6.97 fL of adjusted MPV has the best performance, with 90.91% sensitivity and 22.86% specificity. Conclusions: Adjusted-MPV is higher in ACS within 4 hour of presentation, but the discriminating power is not adequate. Further study is needed to validate the cut-off level and its clinical applicability.