Abstract
Background: The susceptibility to developing vascular complications in diabetic patients could be correlated with alteration of platelet morphology. Although the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Sudan is considered as medium when compared with other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the complications of patients with diabetes are high.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate platelet distribution width as an indicator of vascular complication in diabetic patients.
Methods: One hundred and fifty type 2 diabetic mellitus patients and one hundred and fifty healthy individuals as controls were enrolled in this study. Five ml of blood were collected into EDTA containers and analyzed by a fully automated hematological analyzer to measure platelet distribution width.
Results: The patients were classified into four groups according to duration of disease in years, <= 5 years (40.6%; 61/150); 6-11 years (28.7%;43/150); 12-17 years (18.7%;28/150) and over 17 years (12.0%;18/150). The results revealed that the mean +/- SD of platelet count, main platelet volume, and platelet distribution width were significantly different between cases and control group, (296 +/- 75/mu l, 9.5 +/- 0.9 fL, 12.0 +/- 2.0fL, 0.3%+/- 0.1), and that in controls was 307 +/- 85/mu l, 9.1 +/- 0.7fL, 11.3 +/- 1.5fL, 0.3%+/- 0.1 respectively. The platelet distribution width was significantly increased with the duration of diabetes (p value = 0.041).
Conclusion: Platelet distribution width can be used as a clue to vascular complications in diabetic patients.