1997 Volume 36 Issue 2 Pages 97-101
Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIG) is a pathologic condition associated with critical illnesses, including sepsis. Recent studies have suggested that endogenous cytokines and leukocytes are involved in major roles of its pathophysiology. We report a case of sepsis-induced DIG due to pneumonia that was associated with diffuse and selective thrombosis in pulmonary arteries, yielding to sudden death from pulmonary massive embolism. This report suggests that the selective and lethal pulmonary thromboembolism progresses under the standard therapies in sepsis-induced DIG.
(Internal Medicine 36: 97-101, 1997)