What is disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)?
DIC presents in a very ill patient as bleeding into the skin (purpura) and other tissues. It arises as a complication of different serious and life-threatening diseases. It covers the continuum of events that occur in the coagulation pathway. Initially there is uncontrolled activation of clotting factors in the blood vessels, causing clotting of blood throughout the whole body. This depletes the body of its platelets and coagulation factors and results in a paradoxical increased risk of bleeding (haemorrhaging). Hence, patients with DIC have a loss of balance between the clot-forming activity of thrombin (enzyme that causes blood to clot) and the clot-lysing activity of plasmin (enzyme that dissolves blood clots). DIC is not a specific diagnosis and its presence always indicates another underlying disease.
