Mean Platelet Volume and Risk of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Extremely Preterm Infants

The possible correlation between the mean platelet volume (MPV) and the occurrence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in a cohort of preterm infants was assessed. We studied infants with gestational age <30 weeks. Enrolled infants were divided into BPD and no-BPD groups and IVH and no-IVH groups. MPV was evaluated at birth and at 24 to 48 hours of life. MPV measured at birth was similar in BPD and no-BPD groups, but at 24 to 48 hours of life was higher in the BPD than in the no-BPD group (11.1 +/- 0.9 versus 10.8 +/- 0.9 fL, p = 0.033) and multi-variate analysis demonstrated that MPV >11 fL increases (relative risk 1.40, 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 1.80) the risk of developing BPD. MPV was similar in infants with or without IVH. We concluded that high MPV in the first days of life is a risk factor for the development of BPD in extremely preterm infants. This might be because high MPV could favor inflammatory and oxidative lung damage. On the contrary, our data indicate that MPV is not associated with the development of IVH in our population.