Two patients with antiphospholipid antibody developed disseminated intravascular coagulation.

One hundred and eleven patients with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) were diagnosed at Mie University Hospital during the past 17 years. Two of these patients developed disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The first patient twice developed DIC complicated by pancreatitis and pregnancy, while in the second case, no specific causative complications for DIC were identified.

Plasma ADAMTS13, von Willebrand factor (VWF) and VWF propeptide profiles in patients with DIC and related diseases.

ADAMTS13, endothelial von Willebrand factor (VWF) and related proteins are involved in the pathogenesis of some life threatening systemic thrombotic coagulopathies. Changes of plasma ADAMTS13 activity in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is well known but is also involved in septic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Here we investigated the ADAMTS13 activity, VWF and VWF propeptide (VWFpp) antigens in 69 patients with DIC, 143 with non-DIC, 21 with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and 23 with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) for diagnosis of DIC.

Elevated Von Willebrand factor propeptide for the diagnosis of thrombotic microangiopathy and for predicting a poor outcome.

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is associated with vascular endothelial cell injury and is sometimes linked with poor outcome. Von Willebrand factor (VWF) propeptide (VWFpp) is considered to be a marker of vascular endothelial cell injury. The plasma levels of VWF, VWFpp, and thrombomodulin (TM) were evaluated for their use in the diagnosis of TMA in 75 patients with TMA.

A second national questionnaire survey of TMA.

A second questionnaire survey of Japanese patients with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) was carried out to investigate the frequency, laboratory abnormalities and outcome in 2004 and 2005. The first and second surveys evaluated 397 patients including 19 with familial TMA and 378 with acquired TMA. The patients with acquired TMA included 165 with Escherichia coli O-157 infection-related TMA (O-157 TMA), 70 with ADAMTS13-related TMA (ADAMTS13 TMA) and 38 with other types of TMA (other TMA).