The Clinical Challenge of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Abstract

THOSE of us concerned with clinical disorders of hemostasis face problems with a wide range of urgency. Often, we are afforded the opportunity to unravel, in a logical and orderly sequence, a complex but long standing bleeding or thrombotic diathesis. We may bring to bear on such clinical problems an impressive array of sophisticated, sometimes obscure, or even arcane assay procedures. We then emerge triumphantly with a presumably definitive diagnosis and an appropriate course of therapy. On the other hand, we are also confronted with patients with acute bleeding states for whom we are required to make rapid, accurate diagnoses . . .