Mean platelet volume and coronary artery disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

- Patients with CAD had larger MPV compared to controls.
- Mean difference of MPV in acute coronary events tended to be higher than the mean difference in stable CAD.
- Larger MPV was associated with coronary artery disease.
- MPV might be helpful in improvement of risk prediction model if combining it with other risk factors of CAD.

BackgroundPlatelets with high hemostatic activity play an important role in the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease(CAD) and mean platelet volume(MPV) has been proposed as an indicator of platelet reactivity. Thus, MPV may emerge as a potential marker of CAD risk. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing mean difference in MPV between patients with CAD and controls and pooling the odds ratio of CAD in those with high versus low MPV.MethodsMedline and Scopus databases were searched up to 12 March 2013. All observational studies that considered MPV as a study's factor and measured CAD as an outcome were included. Two reviewers independently selected the studies and extracted the data.ResultsForty studies were included in this meta-analysis. The MPV was significantly larger in patients with CAD than controls with the unstandardized mean difference of 0.70 fL (95% CI: 0.55, 0.85). The unstandardized mean difference of MPV in patients with acute coronary event and in patients with chronic stable angina was 0.84 fL (95% CI: 0.63, 1.04) and 0.46 fL (95% CI: 0.11, 0.81) respectively. Patients with larger MPV (≥ 7.3 fL) also had a greater odds of having CAD than patients with smaller MPV with a pooled odds ratio of 2.28 (95% CI: 1.46, 3.58).ConclusionLarger MPV was associated with CAD. Thus, it might be helpful in risk stratification, or improvement of risk prediction if combining it with other risk factors in risk prediction models.