Platelet counts and its course for predicting in-hospital mortality in intensive care unit

Recent studies have shown that thrombocytopenia (TP) is associated with poor outcomes in patients with pneumonia, burns, and H1N1 influenza. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of platelet count trends and TP on mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.
TP was defined as Of 300 patients, 131 (43.7%) had TP upon admission to the ICU. The rates of TP were 60% among patients who died as compared to 34% among surviving patients (p TP is commonly observed in ICU patients. TP diagnosis and trends of decreasing platelet counts over time are each predictors of mortality among ICU patients. Because platelet counts are inexpensive and readily available, our findings suggest that their use helps inform clinical decision-making in patients with critical illness.