Disseminated intravascular coagulation in a cohort of adult acute leukemia patients: a single center experience

Abstract

ObjectivesWe aimed to detect the incidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in patients with acute leukemia (AL) and find out its association with types of AL and patients’ clinical and pathological parameters.MethodsIn this prospective study, 59 newly diagnosed adults with AL were clinically examined and screened for DIC presentation time. Coagulation tests, including prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen level, D-dimer, antithrombin, and protein C and protein S levels were all assessed. The International Society for Thrombosis and Hemostasis scoring system was adopted to diagnose overt DIC.ResultsThe age of the studied patients ranged from 15 to 81 years with a median of 41 years; male to female ratio was 1.1:1. acute myeloid leukemia (AML) constituted 64.4% of the total cases (38 patients). DIC was detected in 28 patients (47.5%); its incidence was higher in AML than in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (52.6% vs. 38.1%). Overt DIC was significantly associated with bleeding manifestations, duration of symptoms, and leukocytosis (P-values = 0.050, 0.044, and 0.003, respectively). Bleeding events were encountered in 50.8% of patients (25 AML and 5 ALL patients). Bleeding was associated significantly with leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and low fibrinogen level. Thrombosis was found in two patients (3.4%) at presentation.ConclusionsOvert DIC was common in patients with AL at presentation, mostly in AML. Routine testing for coagulopathy in newly diagnosed AL patients will possibly aid in improving the overall patients’ survival.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation in acute leukemia patients

“…I have read with interest the article of Alnuaimy and Shamoon [1]. The authors examined the incidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in 59 patients with acute leukemia to specify risk factors.…”

“…This means that stratified analysis by the type of acute leukemia may be useful to specify the risk of coagulopathy by DIC. As Alnuaimy et al [1] handled a limited number of samples and events, I recommend to add data for conducting stratified analysis or multivariate analysis.…”