Background and Aim: Thrombocytopenia (TCP) is a common clinical problem and its etiology varies widely. Automated hematology analyzers have contributed to more accurate, precise, and faster results. Platelet indices including mean platelet volume (MPV) offer valuable information about the morphology and maturity of platelets. But MPV has not been used commonly for diagnosing the cause of TCP. Thus we undertook this study to ascertain the correlation between MPV and the cause of TCP. Methods: 510 cases of thrombocytopenia and 500 cases of Control group with normal platelet count were included in the study. TCP was defined as platelet counts below 1. 5 lacs/cumm. Hematological analysis was done on Mindray BC-3000 plus automated hematology analyzer with blood collected in K2 EDTA blub. All cases were reevaluated by peripheral examination. Only those cases were included in the study which showed platelet count and platelet volume parameters with graph both in cases and control group. Result: Group A with hyperdestruction showed increased value of MPV (10.46 fl) when compared with hypoproduction Group B (8.7 fl) and abnormal pooling Group C (8.15 fl) and with the control group (9.5 fl). All the three groups showed statistically significant difference in comparison to control. There was no significant difference between the mean platelet count between the control group and the three groups. Conclusion: MPV is a sensitive and reliable indicator for diagnosis of thrombocytopenia due to various causes. More attention should be paid to MPV along with other platelet indices to differentiate between hyper destructive TCP from hypo productive and abnormal pooling TCP.

Keywords: Control Group; Mean Platelet Volume; Platelet; Thrombocytopenia