Introduction: Our interest was provoked by a patient with a tendency to bleed, in whom peripheral blood pacing automatic analysis showed a platelet count of 86x10 / 9 / L and the morphological analysis of blood smears on Romanowsky-Giemsa stain showed that approximately one-third of the platelets were about half the size of red blood cells (3.5 μm), and some platelets were as large or even larger than lymphocytes. The defect was limited to the platelet line only, without affecting the other cell lines.
Materials and Methods: As a material, we used whole blood taken with an EDTA anticoagulant and a Giemsа-stained blood smear. The number of platelets was recorded with an automatic hematology counter Mindray-BC-3000Plus. As we tried to avoid false-positive thrombocytopenia, we only accepted macrothrombocytopenia cases with credibility.
Results and Discussion: In one of the cases investigated, we determined the same pattern in the platelets of the mother and father of the investigated patient, which led us to discuss the diagnosis of Bernard-Soulier syndrome.
Conclusion: The Bernard-Soulier syndrome is a rare hereditary disease, which should be taken into account in patients with a tendency to bleed.
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