Does Mean Platelet Volume Decrease in the presence of Coronary Artery Fistula?

Background: Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is an abnormal connection that links a coronary artery to a cardiac chamber or another major blood vessel. Several studies have shown the association between mean platelet volume (MPV) and cardiovascular diseases. In the literature, there is no previous study about the association between hematologic parameters and congenital CAF. For this reason, we aimed to investigate the association of MPV with CAF.

Methods: 70 patients with normal coronary arteries and 50 with coronary artery fistulas were included. Routine blood and biochemical parameters were measured before the arteriography. Differences between groups for continuous variables were analyzed with t- test or Mann-Whitney test. P values < 0.05 were considered significant. Regression analysis was used to find independent predictors of CAF.

Results: Baseline patient demographics, including age and clinical risk factors, were similar between the groups. Compared to the control group, median (IQR) High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) levels were significantly higher (p=0.04) and MPV levels were significantly lower in the CAF group (8.84 ± 1.71fL vs. 10.43 ± 1.34, p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, only MPV was a significant predictor of CAF (p < 0.001, 95% CI for OR: 0.438 (0.306-0.629). A negative correlation was found between MPV and fistulae in Pearson's correlation test (r: -0.454, p < 0.001). An MPV level of < 9,6 fL showed sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 80%, 68%, 71% and 78% respectively (AUC = 0.766, 95% CI, 0.678-0.854) for the prediction of CAF.

Conclusion: The present study suggests that MPV may decrease in patients with CAF.