Sandeep S Walia1, Harpreet S Walia2
1Texas Tech University School of Medicine, Lubbock, Texas, USA.
2Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
DOI: 10.4103/0976-9668.95989
Sir, Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a syndrome that results from of a complex interaction of coagulation and fibrinolysis. DIC is characterized by the activation of the coagulation pathway from concurrent tissue-factor dependant activation of coagulation with depression of natural anticoagulant pathways and shutdown of endogenous fibrinolysis. This leads to thrombus formation throughout the microvasculature. Consumptive coagulopathy may ensue if the fibrinolysis cascade is subsequently activated and profuse bleeding can occur, resulting from the lack of platelets and coagulation factors which were consumed in the original pervasive thromboses. Thus, DIC can cause the clinical scenario of multiorgan failure either secondary to tissue hypoxia and microinfarcts due to multiple microthrombi or consumptive coagulopathy. Read more…
