Platelets clumping

Here's something new on my chart. When I got the actual test information, on the bottom of the page it had an alert that my count was likely higher than 233,000 due to clumping. Clumping? Is that a bad thing then? Why would I be clumping? Any of you out there ever told you were clumping? What did they do about it?

There's a thread (or several) about this on the old forum. One cause is a delay between the blood draw and the actual count. Another has to do with the substance in the tube, and the color of the test tube top is the clue. Hope one of the long-timers on here will remember that thread or can give you the rest of the answer. My daughter's testing was always done right away at the hospital, so we never had the clumping issue, or at least we were never told of it.
Norma

Yes, clumping occurs. I had that problem every time my sample was sent out and sat for a while before being read. The results would come back unreadable because the clumping was so bad. I ended up having to go to the instant counts at the doctors office to avoid that.

They can use an EDTA tube which contains an anticoagulant that can help stop the clumping. Platelets do tend to stick together, so clumping is a common occurrence. Platelets are sticky. They used the EDTA (purple tube lid) with me though and it didn't work.

There have been a handful of people here over the years who actually had Pseudothrombocytopenia due to platelet clumping. They were told they had low counts and this went on for months before the Pseudothrombocytopenia was discovered. Those people need manual counts and cannot use the analyzers.

Just had 'clumping' happen to me a couple of months ago. The sample was unreadable because they took too long between collection and reading. Yep....purple top tube even.
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Roberta,

So, it has nothing to do with a problem with your blood. It is usually just because they wait too long to do the count. I do remember reading about this on the old forum too.

And it can affect the actual count.

Roberta,

Nothing to worry about! Everyone told you the why! I hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Jeffrey

Thanks, everyone! Next time they have to do the count quickly, as I have an appt with Doc #1 an hour after the draw.