Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder characterised by low platelet count (less than 100×109/ L), because of platelet autoantibodies. The pathogenesis of the disease remains unclear, but it is known that various mechanisms are involved in the development of the disease. The purpose of our project was to determine the usefulness of flow cytometry in the diagnosis of ITP. In our study, the commercially available ThrombocytestTMimmune reagent kit was used. The fluorescence of 41 samples was analysed by flow cytometry using two different flow cytometers. We determined and compared the sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values.
In order to assess with greater certainty the usefulness of flow cytometry in the diagnosis of ITP, we would need a larger number of samples of patients with ITP, especially acute ITP, as a control group for samples from fully healthy subjects and platelet antibody analysis over a longer time period. Nevertheless we conclude, that the flow cytometry can help with the diagnosis of ITP disease.
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