Platelet Activation—Clinical Implications

Platelets play a vital role in the maintainance of vascular integrity in health as well as in disease. However, in addition they are now suspected to have a wide range of other functions and to be involved in the origins and development of several disease states. Platelet activation is necessary for physiological function but the delicate balance regulating the threshhold for activation and the reversal of activation can be disturbed by many factors. A better understanding of these factors and the ability to control platelet activity by a range of recently developed inhibitors should reduce the impact of platelet-related disorders. Nevertheless, there is much that is still unclear about the part played by platelets in the origins of cardiovascular diseases.