Reticulated platelets are associated with long-term outcomes of premature coronary artery disease following percutaneous coronary intervention

Objective: Reticulated platelets (RPs) in the blood can reflect the platelet productivity in the bone marrow more accurately than other haematological parameters. RPs are indicator of higher platelet activation, and have been demonstrate to be correlated with platelet reactivity. The aim of the current study was to investigate the RPs in evaluating long-term outcomes of premature coronary artery disease (PCAD) patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Results: We performed a prospective study of a 1600 patients with PCAD (defined as male age<45 years, female age<55 years). RPs percent was assessed using a direct, whole blood, dual-labeling flow cytometric method. We evaluated the relationship between RP and long-term cardiac adverse events after following 12-month of follow-up. There were 106 cardiac events (6.7%) during the 12-months follow-up. Between the PCAD and control group, significant differences were found in sex, smoking status, diabetes, family history, history of heart failure. RPs in PCAD group were higher than that in controls. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis RP%>10 was were an independent variables (HR=2.58, 95%CI:1.12-5.35, P<0.01). They had association with the cardiac adverse events incidence. Conclusions The elevation of RPs is a powerful biomarker in predicting the long-term outcomes in PCAD undergoing PCI. RP%>10% can be a biomarker in predicating PCAD adverse outcomes after PCI in different subgroups.