Reversible shear-mediated platelet dysfunction during cardiac surgery as assessed by the PFA-100® platelet function analyzer

We undertook this investigation to assess alterations in shear-mediated platelet function during cardiac surgery and to determine the potential for the PFA-100 to predict post-operative bleeding. Platelet aggregation and PFA-100 closure times were determined in 18 adult patients at five intervals during cardiac surgery. Associations between post-operative bleeding and closure times were examined in an additional 58 patients. Statistical analysis consisted of Student's t, Wilcoxon signed rank, and Spearman correlation tests. All results are reported as mean ± SEM. Collagen/epinephrine closure times were prolonged prior to and throughout surgery. Collagen/adenosine-5′-diphosphate (ADP) closure times were significantly prolonged by heparin administration, 141 ± 15 s versus 115 ± 10 s (P= 0.01), and subsequent initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), 203 ± 12 s (P= 0.0001); however, 15 min after protamine administration, closure times returned to near pre-operative values, 138 ± 12 s (P= not significant). In contrast, platelet aggregation in response to ADP remained impaired in 17 of 19 patients after CPB. Neither ex vivo correction of sample hematocrits nor supplementation with Humate P1 affected closure times. Positive and negative predictive values for post-CPB collagen/ADP closure times to predict bleeding were 18 and 96%, respectively. These results suggest that factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the platelet contribute to reversible shear-mediated platelet dysfunction during CPB, and that the PFA-100 may prove useful after CPB to identify patients unlikely to benefit from platelet transfusions.