On-pump coronary bypass surgery in a pseudothrombocytopenic patient: a case report

Abstract

A sixty-year-old female patient was admitted to our cardiovascular surgery department for coronary bypass surgery. Coronar angiograpy revealed three vessel coronary artery disease. The patient's preoperative whole blood count examination was performed by taking whole blood into EDTA tubes. The platelet count was found to be 23x10(3)/mm(3). The patient has no bleeding problem. In the physical examination; no pathologies were detected other than bilateral basal fine crepitations in the lungs and the result of bleeding and coagulation tests were normal. In the peripheral blood smear examination, adequate platelet clusters were found. Since the laboratory findings were normal and the patient had no history of bleeding problems, the patient was diagnosed with EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia. We presented this case to emphasize the importance of preoperative platelet count and function and remind of the issue of pseudothrombocytopenia.