Platelets

[313313]

My husband had a recent blood draw and in a month his platelets went from 199 to 127. All other test results were normal except for the WBC which was 14.

The phlebotomist had a difficult time getting a vein and had to get the assistance of another technician. They finally had success but the blood flow was slow. I would appreciate any thoughts as to why this large decrease. Bone marrow issues or difficult blood draw?

Thanks so much and good health and many blessings to all.

[SofiaDeo Administrator]

Hmmmm you are the one with CLL and your husband has had immunotherapy for melanoma. Without knowing anything more about *his* condition, meds, symptoms, etc. it's difficult to comment.

Here's what the Mayo Clinic has to say about thrombocytopenia:

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

[seelel]

Yes - a less-than-perfect blood draw can produce a misleading platelet count. It is termed 'clumping' when the platelets group together and the machine can no longer read the individual platelets.

A tell-tale sign is when the needle leaves a largish bruise instead of a tiny red dot. This tends to result in a mis-reading.

[313313 in reply to seelel]

Thank you

[wags1981]

Hi. I had a similar experience prior to my O/V treatment and the cause in my case was overcrowding of CLL cells reduced bone marrow production of platelets. Sounds like a retest is prudent.

[313313 in reply to wags1981]

Thank you and he will have a retest.