Pseudothrombocytopenia: a report of a new method to count platelets in a patient with EDTA‐ and temperature‐independent antibodies of the IgM type

Abstract

Pseudothrombocytopenia is usually associated with blood specimens anticoagulated with ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) or other anticoagulants. It may be caused by temperature-independent, EDTA-dependent antibodies of the immunoglobulin-M (IgM) type. Here a patient with EDTA-independent and temperature-independent pseudothrombocytopenia mediated by IgM or IgM-containing immune complex is reported, and a reliable method is described for a proper counting of platelets in such cases.