DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2022.v10i06.009

Pages: 910-916

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common and potentially treatable nutritional anemia in the world. The platelet count is often unpredictable in IDA. It may lead to reactive thrombocytosis and rarely thrombocytopenia. In children with IDA, abnormal platelet counts were seen in several studies. However, studies evaluating abnormalities of platelet count in adults with IDA are scarce. Objectives: This study was aimed to evaluate platelet count abnormalities in adults with IDA and to correlate platelet count with serum iron parameters. Material and Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted on 294 adults (age ranged from 18 to 85 years) with newly diagnosed IDA attending outdoor and indoor at a large tertiary care center in Northwestern India, from the April 2018 to March 2020. All patients were subjected to evaluation by meticulous history, thorough clinical examination, and hematological investigations including platelet count and serum iron parameters. Results: IDA was more common in females (63.9%). The initial platelet counts were normal in 176 (59.9%) patients. Thrombocytosis and thrombocytopenia were detected in 99 (33.7%) and 19 (6.4%) patients, respectively Majority of thrombocytosis cases (48.5%) were associated with moderate IDA. Mild thrombocytosis was the most common category (60.6%), followed by moderate (28.3%), severe (8.1%) and profound (3%) thrombocytosis. Majority of thrombocytopenia cases were mild (57.9%), and all cases of severe thrombocytopenia were observed in severe IDA. Platelet count had a significant negative correlation with serum iron and transferrin saturation (p˂0.01) while a significant positive correlation was obtained with total iron‑binding capacity (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that thrombocytosis was a common platelet abnormality in adults with IDA. In addition, mild thrombocytopenia was not so rare in these patients. Furthermore, serum iron, transferrin saturation and total iron‑bind