Abstract

COPD is a disease presenting with pulmonary inflammation as well as a systemic one. The present study was conducted to see if platelet count may be accepted as an indicator of systemic inflammation other than erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). 964 smoker patients without any concomitant disease were divided into groups as COPD and non-COPD according to spirometric values. Physical examination, posteroanterior chest x-rays and blood samples were determined. Patients with COPD had higher  ESR, CRP levels and platelet count than the group without COPD. According to spirometric parameters, as the severity of the disease increased, platelet counts also revealed a statistically significant increase. We conclude that the increase in the number of platelets may be an indicator of severity of  the disease and sytemic inflammation in patients with COPD.

Key words: Platelet, inflammation, COPD.