To evaluate the effects of blood cells on the response of platelets to aggregating agents using whole blood impedance aggregometer, studies were carried out on whole blood (WB) of normal subjects and of patients with: polycythemia vera (PV), iatrogenic anemia (IA), primary thrombocytosis (PT), idiopathic thrombotic purpura (ITP), myeloid chronic leukemia (MCL), iatrogenic leukopenia (IL). The in vitro effects of red blood cells (RBC) and of white blood cells (WBC) on platelet rich plasma (PRP) aggregation were also evaluated. WB, PRP, WBC and RBC were prepared by conventional methods. Aggregation was performed using the impedance aggregometer (mod. 540, Chrono Log Corp). In normal subjects the concentration of collagen giving 50 % aggregation (AC50 ) found in PRP did not differ from that of WB, indicating that hematocrit values within the normal range did not appreciably affect platelet aggregation. The results obtained in WB of patients are summarized in the table: In vitro data showed that aggregation in prp in wb of normal subjects was related to the number of platelets present in the sample. RBC added to PRP significant reduced aggregation only when the RBC number was greater than 4.101 cells. No effect of WBC on collagen induced aggregation of PRP was observed, whereas significant inhibition was detected after ADP. It is concluded that the aggregation evaluated in WB with impedance method is dependent on the platelet number. Also, in vitro data and studies in WB of patients indicate that aggregation is significantly affected by the presence of cells other than platelets only in conditions of changes of the ratio between platelets and leukocytes and/or red cells.