Relationship of mean platelet volume in predicting severity in hypertensive retinopathy – A cross sectional study

Background: Hypertension is a major health issue in India and it has led to increasing incidences of target organ damage including hypertensive retinopathy (HR). Many factors like platelet activation show influence in levels of HR. Mean platelet volume (MPV) being an indicator of platelet activation can help in predicting the severity of HR. The present study was planned to find a correlation of levels of MPV with the severity of HR. Methodology: Data of 100 cases of hypertensive retinopathy aged 31 to 80 years diagnosed by direct and indirect ophthalmoscopic examination in the outpatient department of ophthalmology was recorded and reviewed. Complete clinical and demographic data (age, gender, weight, body mass index and socioeconomic status) was noted. Mean platelet volume was obtained from fully automated haematology analyser Horiba medical Yumizen H550. Results: The mean age (years ± standard deviation) of cases with grade 1 HR was 59.448±11.642, grade 2 HR was 56.166±10.0377 and grade 3 HR was 58±19.37. The mean value of MPV in the study population for grade 1 HR was 8.55±0.576, for grade 2 HR was 9.17±0.8224, for grade 3 was 9.6±1.5594. The comparison between grades of HR and levels of MPV was done by one way analysis of variance. Conclusion: We established a significant relationship between mean platelet volume and severity grades of hypertensive retinopathy. MPV a cheap and easily available biomarker can be used for predicting severity in hypertensive retinopathy.