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Editor-in-chief
Maria Stella Graziani

Deputy Director
Martina Zaninotto

Associate Editors
Ferruccio Ceriotti
Davide Giavarina
Bruna Lo Sasso
Giampaolo Merlini
Martina Montagnana
Andrea Mosca
Paola Pezzati
Rossella Tomaiuolo
Matteo Vidali

International Advisory Board Khosrow Adeli Canada
Sergio Bernardini Italy
Marcello Ciaccio Italy
Eleftherios Diamandis Canada
Philippe Gillery France
Kjell Grankvist Sweden
Hans Jacobs The Netherlands
Eric Kilpatrick UK
Magdalena Krintus Poland
Giuseppe Lippi Italy
Mario Plebani Italy
Sverre Sandberg Norway
Ana-Maria Simundic Croatia
Tommaso Trenti Italy
Cas Weykamp The Netherlands
Maria Willrich USA
Paul Yip Canada

Publisher
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano

Responsible Editor
Giuseppe Agosta

Editorial Secretary
Andrea di Bello
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano
Tel. 0245498282
email: biochimica.clinica@sibioc.it

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ISSN print: 0393 – 0564
ISSN digital: 0392- 7091

BC: Articoli scritti da M. Fumi

Piastrine grigie sullo striscio di sangue periferico: patologia o artefatto?
Gray platelets on peripheral blood smear: syndrome or artifact?
Y. Pancione \| M. Fumi \| S. Sale \| V. Rocco \|
<p>This case reports on a 6-year-old child, suffering from phenylketonuria treated with levetiracetam. The complete blood count showed degranulated platelets, confirmed by optical microscopy of the peripheral blood smear. Medical history revealed no bleeding or thrombocytopenia, so a correlation between the phenomenon and the pharmacological treatment was postulated. However, among the adverse effect of this drug, only cases of drug-induced thrombocytopenia are known. From a literature research, we were able to retrieve a description of a "pseudo gray platelet syndrome induced by EDTA". The blood sampling was thus repeated using sodium-citrate as anticoagulant besides EDTA; smears were performed using these samples and directly from a finger stick. The smear from the EDTA sample confirmed the presence of degranulated platelets; while the one from the sodium-citrate sample showed no platelet abnormalities. Platelet morphology was also normal in the smear from the finger stick. Pseudo Gray Syndrome Platelet (PGSP) by EDTA is an “in vitro” phenomenon not associated with bleeding disorders. The observation of different peripheral blood smears (EDTA, sodium-citrate and finger stick) allowed us to correctly identified a harmless condition, distinguishing it from the true gray platelet syndrome, a much more severe disorder.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 40(3) e15-e17 Casi clinici - Case report