Children with elevated platelets

Children's physical health is very important, so many parents attach great importance to their children's physical health. However, children are relatively young, their immunity and resistance are relatively low, and they are more prone to disease problems, so children should have a health check-up every year. What is the reason why children’s platelets are found to be elevated after physical examination?

What causes high platelet count in children?

Experts say: High platelet count in children may be pathological. There are many conditions that lead to pathological platelet increase, which can be divided into primary and secondary. Primary increase is seen in myeloproliferative diseases, such as chronic myeloid leukemia, polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia and early myelofibrosis. Secondary increase is seen in acute infection, acute hemolysis, and certain tumors, but is mostly below 500 (the normal platelet count in humans is 100-300*10^9/L).

1. Secondary thrombocytosis

For children, secondary thrombocytosis is more common and the cause is very clear. It is usually caused by some primary diseases, such as anemia, chronic inflammation, cardiopulmonary disease, malignant tumors, postoperatively, etc., which can cause thrombocytosis, but the count generally does not exceed 1000×10^9/L. After the primary disease is cured, the platelet count can generally drop on its own and return to normal.

2. Primary thrombocytosis

Children are generally less likely to suffer from essential thrombocythemia, but if they do, it will be quite troublesome because essential thrombocythemia is a myeloproliferative disease. To put it simply, it is a disorder of the bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell function. A notable feature of the disease is a significant increase in platelets, with the count often exceeding 1000×10^9/L. And the platelet count will continue to increase or remain high.

Thrombocytosis itself is not a serious disease, but the problem is that due to bone marrow functional problems, the platelets produced by these patients often have some defects, such as reduced platelet adhesion and aggregation ability, inability to release factor 3 normally, etc. These defects cause the platelets to be unable to perform their normal functions in the blood, which can lead to bleeding tendencies. Another characteristic of platelets is that they are easy to aggregate and distribute in clusters. Then the problem arises that the increase in the number of platelets and their abnormal function can easily lead to bleeding or blood clot formation. Bleeding or thrombosis of important organs are serious complications and often become the cause of death from this disease.

The cause of primary thrombocythemia is unknown in the current medical community, and there is no specific medicine or treatment. In other words, this disease, like hypertension and diabetes, requires long-term treatment or medication to control platelet count. There is currently no complete cure. Western medicine generally uses oral chemotherapy drugs such as hydroxyurea and interferon injections to control it. In addition, there are many medical institutions promoting traditional Chinese medicine treatment, which should also have certain efficacy. Many Western doctors also recommend a combination of Chinese and Western treatments.

What is the reason for high platelet count in children? Now everyone knows it. If a child has high platelet count, parents should immediately take the child to the hospital to find out whether it is primary or secondary so that clear treatment can be provided.