Journal of Hepatology,

330

0

1992 Elsevier Science Publishers

1992; 15: 330-335

B.V. All rights reserved. 0168-8278/92/X05.00

HEPAT 01098

Disseminated intravascular coagulation in liver cirrhosis C. Minke Bakker’, Departments of ‘internal

Eduard

A.R. Knot’,

Medicine and ‘Hematology.

Jeanne

Stibbe2 and J.H. Paul Wilson’

University Hospital. Rotterdam, The Netherlands

(Received 29 May 1991)

We measured thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT), soluble fibrin (SF) and D-dimer levels in 51 patients with liver cirrhosis to determine whether these tests provide new evidence for the presence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in liver cirrhosis. TAT levels (median, range) were increased in the patient group (4.2 jig/l, 1.8-60.0) compared to th? reference group (2.0 pg/l, range 1.5-7.6 pg/l). SF levels (0 nmol/l, range O-80 nmol/l) were also increased in the patients as compared to the controls (0 nmol/l, 0), but there was no correlation between TAT and SF levels (r’O.23, p cO.98). TAT levels did not correlate with AT-III levels (r= -0.36, p