Journal of Clinical Medicine Review Thrombocytopathies: Not Just Aggregation Defects—The Clinical Relevance of Procoagulant Platelets Alessandro Aliotta 1,† , Debora Bertaggia Calderara 1,† , Maxime G. Zermatten 1, Matteo Marchetti 1,2 and Lorenzo Alberio 1,* 1 Hemostasis and Platelet Research Laboratory, Division of Hematology and Central Hematology Laboratory, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), CH-1010 Lausanne, Switzerland;
[email protected] (A.A.);
[email protected] (D.B.C.);
[email protected] (M.G.Z.);
[email protected] (M.M.) 2 Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital de Nyon, CH-1260 Nyon, Switzerland * Correspondence:
[email protected] † These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Platelets are active key players in haemostasis. Qualitative platelet dysfunctions result in thrombocytopathies variously characterized by defects of their adhesive and procoagulant activation endpoints. In this review, we summarize the traditional platelet defects in adhesion, secretion, and aggregation. In addition, we review the current knowledge about procoagulant platelets, focusing on their role in bleeding or thrombotic pathologies and their pharmaceutical modulation. Procoagulant activity is an important feature of platelet activation, which should be specifically evaluated during the investigation of a suspected thrombocytopathy. Citation: Aliotta, A.; Bertaggia Keywords: thrombocytopathy; platelet disorders; procoagulant platelets; activation endpoints Calderara, D.; Zermatten, M.G.; Marchetti, M.; Alberio, L. Thrombocytopathies: Not Just Aggregation Defects—The Clinical 1. Introduction Relevance of Procoagulant Platelets. J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10, 894. https:// Platelets or thrombocytes are small (2–5 µm) discoid anucleated cells produced by doi.org/10.3390/jcm10050894 megakaryocytes. They are released in the blood stream where they circulate for 7–10 days to be eventually cleared by the spleen and the liver [1].