DO PLATELETS HAVE A ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF AGGRESSIVE POSTERIOR RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY?

Abstract

The role of low platelets in the etiopathogenesis of APROP has not been previously elucidated. Our study shows that a platelet count of <100,000 was associated with severe disease. Recently, platelets have been reported to play a key role in angiogenic regulatory protein delivery. It is possible that premature infants who develop retinopathy of prematurity in the setting of low platelet counts may lack the function of either delivering the optimal level or incompletely scavenging the excess of vascular endothelial growth factor A present in APROP. The spontaneous resolution of disease in our index case with platelet correction alone needs additional studies to correlate the timing and magnitude of correction that may play a role.