VARIATION IN THE PLATELET COUNT

Abstract

Remarkably little interest is taken in blood platelets by clinicians, so little in fact that I really hesitate to present a paper on this subject before the section. There are scarcely more than ten or twelve investigators working in this field at the present time, I believe. Nevertheless, platelets are very interesting and remarkable little bodies, and if time permitted me to enumerate some of the interesting facts and problems concerning them, I feel sure you would be convinced that they are worthy of more attention than they receive. This paper must be confined, however, to a brief report of clinical and experimental observations which are thought to throw new light on some of the factors which influence the number of platelets in the circulating blood. They should aid one, therefore, in drawing conclusions from the platelet count in clinical cases. The platelet count is altered in a great number