Dewitte, AntoineLepreux, SébastienVilleneuve, JulienRigothier, ClaireCombe, ChristianOuattara, AlexandreRipoche, Jean2018-07-262018-07-262017Dewitte A, Lepreux S, Villeneuve J, Rigothier C, Combe C, Ouattara A et al. Blood platelets and sepsis pathophysiology: A new therapeutic prospect in critical ill patients? Ann Intensive Care. 2017 Dec 1;7(1):115. DOI: 10.1186/s13613-017-0337-72110-5820http://hdl.handle.net/10230/35272Beyond haemostasis, platelets have emerged as versatile effectors of the immune response. The contribution of platelets in inflammation, tissue integrity and defence against infections has considerably widened the spectrum of their role in health and disease. Here, we propose a narrative review that first describes these new platelet attributes. We then examine their relevance to microcirculatory alterations in multi-organ dysfunction, a major sepsis complication. Rapid progresses that are made on the knowledge of novel platelet functions should improve the understanding of thrombocytopenia, a common condition and a predictor of adverse outcome in sepsis, and may provide potential avenues for management and therapy.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13613-017-0337-7InflammationIntensive carePlateletsSepsisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess