Predictive Value of Serial Platelet Count and VEGF Determination for the Management of DIC in the Crow-Fukase (POEMS) Syndrome

Abstract

We report a case of a 62-year-old man diagnosed as Crow-Fukase syndrome (POEMS syndrome), in which the serial platelet count and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration were determined before and during the state of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The serum VEGF concentration was noted to be gradually decreased prior to DIC, after which it abruptly decreased with a corresponding drop in platelet count upon the onset of DIC. The physiological effects of VEGF are viewed as one of the causative factors in DIC and its abrupt and excessive release may have caused the exacerbation of the patient's clinical symptoms.