ObjectiveTo investigate the changes of platelet-leukocyte aggregates (PLA) level in patients with sepsis and its diagnostic value in sepsis complicated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).MethodsA prospective study was carried in adult sepsis patients admitted to our hospital from January 2015 to November 2016. According to the 2012 " Berlin definition” diagnostic criteria, 58 cases of sepsis with ARDS were allocated to an experimental group and 139 cases of sepsis non-ARDS patients were allocated to a control group. Immediately after the diagnosis of sepsis, elbow vein blood samples were collected for flow cytometry assay of PLA. The acute physiology and chronic health assessment II (APACHE II score) of each group was performed and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn.ResultsPlatelet-neutrophil aggregates (PNA) and platelet-lymphocyte aggregates (PLyA) in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group, but there were no significant differences (both P>0.05). The platelet-monocyte aggregates (PMA) of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). Peripheral blood PMA was positively correlated with APACHE II score (r=0.671, P<0.001). When PMA was used as the test variable, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.945 with significant diagnostic value (P<0.001), and optimal cutoff value of PMA was 8.25%, with diagnostic sensitivity of 0.806 and diagnostic specificity of 0.951. When APACHE II was used as the test variable, AUC was 0.930, with significant diagnostic value (P<0.001), and optimal threshold of APACHE II was 16.500 with diagnostic sensitivity of 0.871 and diagnostic specificity of 0.852.ConclusionPMA is of great value in the diagnosis of sepsis with ARDS.