Platelet associated antibodies

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A negative test is normal.

Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.

Abnormal results show that you have antiplatelet antibodies. These are proteins made by your body that attach to platelets and destroy them. This causes a low platelet count, which can lead to excessive bleeding.

Antiplatelet antibodies may appear in the blood for unknown reasons (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura), or as a side effect of certain drugs such as gold heparin, quinidine, and quinine. These drugs can sometimes cause the immune system to identify its own platelets as abnormal or foreign, and attack them.

The exact interpretation of the results of this test is controversial.

Review Date: 02/28/2011
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).

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