[Clinical application of reticulated platelet analysis using the matic-modified thiazole orange method and flow cytometry].

Reticulated platelet (RP) analysis using thiazole orange (TO) and a flow cytometer is a convenient and promising method for estimating platelet kinetics in patients with thrombocytopenia. Among many different modifications of the TO method, a novel protocol reported by Matic in 1998 seems to be superior because it allows RP analysis using a sample of whole blood very quickly and accurately. Therefore, we used this method to analyze platelet kinetics in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS), as well as patients with hematopoietic malignancies (HM) after intensive chemotherapy. The proportion of RP was increased in the patients with ITP and HPS, and furthermore showed a negative linear correlation with the platelet count. The change in the proportion of RP occurred about one week before the change in the circulating platelet count in the patients with HM after chemotherapy. This modification of the TO method by Matic is expected to become a standard protocol for RP analysis.