Platelet aggregation reagent, reagent container and method of determining platelet aggregation in EDTA-anticoagulated blood

Abstract

A platelet aggregation reagent for EDTA-anticoagulated blood comprises calcium chloride, sodium citrate and a platelet-aggregating agent; the calcium chloride and the sodium citrate being present in a proportion of about 1.5 micromoles: 5 micromoles to about 7.5 micromoles: 2.5 micromoles per at least about a platelet aggregating amount of the agent. A platelet aggregation reagent container for EDTA-anticoagulated blood comprises an elongated container suitable for use in a platelet counter containing a reagent comprising about 1.5 micromoles to 7.5 micromoles of calcium chloride, about 2.5 micromoles to 5.0 micromoles of sodium citrate, and at least about a platelet aggregating amount of a platelet aggregating agent. A method of determining platelet aggregation in EDTA-anticoagulated blood, comprises counting the number of platelets contained in an EDTA-anticoagulated blood sample to obtain an initial platelet count (IC), contacting the sample with calcium chloride, sodium citrate and a platelet-aggregating agent in proportions of at least about a platelet aggregating amount of the agent per about 450 microliters of the samples and about 1.2 micromoles to 7.5 micromoles of the calcium chloride and about 2.5 micromoles to 5.0 micromoles of the citrate, counting the number of platelets contained in the thus contacted sample at desired intervals for a period of about 1 minute to 10 minutes, selecting the maximum platelet count (MC) obtained in step (c) and calculating platelet aggregation (PA) from the equation PA=[(IC-MC)/IC].

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