Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation in a Neonate

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Abstract
THE COAGULATION disorder which may accompany toxemia of pregnancy, premature separation of the placenta, amniotic fluid embolism, and retention of the dead fetus, is manifested as an unusual constellation of pathologic signs.1-7 These include a hemorrhagic diathesis associated with depletion of various clotting factors with or without elevation of plasma fibrinolysin activity.6,8,9 Necropsy findings include widespread intravascular thromboses and their sequellae, distal infarction.1,3,10 Numerous isolated reports and two recent reviews11,12 emphasize the attention paid to parturient mothers who demonstrate defective coagulation. On the other hand, one is struck by the paucity of information regarding the status of the infants delivered from these complicated pregnancies. Two studies13,14 have described pulmonary thrombi in neonates dying of various causes. The thrombi were thought causally related to death, but no attempt was made to correlate their presence with antecedent events. A retrospective autopsy study of neonates dying within 48