• Hae Lyun Ahn, Young Il Jo, Young Suk Choi, Jung Yeon Lee, Hae Woon Lee, Seong Ryul Kim, Joon Sim, Weon Lee, and Chun Jo Jin.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• Korean J. Intern. Med. 2002 Mar 1;17(1):65-8.

AbstractEDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia (PTCP) is the phenomenon of a spurious low platelet count due to EDTA-induced aggregation of platelets. Since the failure to recognize EDTA-dependent PTCP may result in incorrect diagnosis and inappropriate treatment, the recognition of this phenomenon is very important. We report an insidious case of EDTA-dependent PTCP confirmed by supplementation of kanamycin to anticoagulant in a 53-year-old women. Although sodium citrate and heparin usually prevented the aggregation of platelets in EDTA-dependent PTCP patients, these anticoagulants failed in preventing PTCP in our case. EDTA-dependent PTCP was confirmed by the findings that the clumping of platelets on microscopic evaluation was found in EDTA-anticoagulated blood samples, whereas thrombocytopenia and platelet aggregation were not revealed in the sample supplemented with kanamycin.

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