Mean Platelet Volume Is Associated with Early Neurological Deterioration in Patients with Branch Atheromatous Disease: Involvement of Platelet Activation

Background The most attentive clinical problem in patients with branch atheromatous disease (BAD) is early neurological deterioration (END). Although the platelet activation (PA) is involved in pathogenesis, the relationship between PA and END has remained unclear. We investigated clinical data including mean platelet volume (MPV, fL) as a marker for PA to identify clinically useful biomarkers for END. Methods A total of 64 patients with BAD were investigated retrospectively, and divided into 2 groups based on whether neurologic symptoms deteriorated or not: BAD with and without END (END and non-END). The END was defined as patients with point increase of 1 or greater in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS); non-END was defined as those without such increase. Clinical features such as NIHSS, modified Rankin scale (mRS), laboratory data including MPV, lesion size (LS, mm) on admission, and treatments were compared between the 2 groups. Results Of 64 patients, 17 cases had an END. The median values of NIHSS, mRS, MPV, and LS on admission were significantly greater in END than in non-END ( P P Conclusions High MPV values on admission may be an independent biomarker for END. Physicians should pay more careful attention to END in BAD showing MPV values higher than 10.1 on admission.