Pathogenesis and management of peripartum coagulopathic calamities (disseminated intravascular coagulation and amniotic fluid embolism)

A Retrospective Case-Control Study on the Diagnostic Values of Hemostatic Markers in Hypertensive Disorder of Pregnancy

Objective

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the following hemostatic markers in hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP): tissue-type plasminogen activator and inhibitor-1 complex (tPAI-C), thrombomodulin, thrombin-antithrombin complex, plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complex, D-dimer, and fibrinogen degradation products.

Methods

A total of 311 individuals diagnosed with HDP and 187 healthy controls (HC) of matched gestational age were admitted, including 175 subjects with gestational hypertension, 94 with mild preeclampsia, and 42 with severe preeclampsia.

Results

Compared with those of the HC group, the plasma concentrations of all the hemostatic markers continuously increased with the clinical severity of the hypertensive disorder, regardless of their statistical significance. In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, tPAI-C displayed the best discrimination performance.

Conclusion

The tPAI-C level was consistently and significantly elevated across the different HDP groups when compared with the HC group, suggesting aggravated fibrinolysis disorder increasing with the severity of the HDP.

An interpretable DIC risk prediction model based on convolutional neural networks with time series data

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a complex, life-threatening syndrome associated with the end-stage of different coagulation disorders. Early prediction of the risk of DIC development is an urgent clinical need to reduce adverse outcomes. However, effective approaches and models to identify early DIC are still lacking. In this study, a novel interpretable deep learning based time series is used to predict the risk of DIC. The study cohort included ICU patients from a 4300-bed academic hospital between January 1, 2019, and January 1, 2022. Experimental results show that our model achieves excellent performance (AUC: 0.986, Accuracy: 95.7%, and F1:0.935). Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) was used to explain how predictive models identified patients with DIC. The decision basis of the model was displayed in the form of a heat map. The model can be used to identify high-risk patients with DIC early, which will help in the early intervention of DIC patients and improve the treatment effect.

DIC in Pregnancy - Pathophysiology, Clinical Characteristics, Diagnostic Scores, and Treatments

Obstetrical hemorrhage and especially DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation) is a leading cause for maternal mortality across the globe, often secondary to underlying maternal and/or fetal complications including placental abruption, amniotic fluid embolism, HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets), retained stillbirth and acute fatty liver of pregnancy. Various obstetrical disorders can present with DIC as a complication; thus, increased awareness is key to diagnosing the condition. DIC patients can present to clinicians who may not be experienced in a variety of aspects of thrombosis and hemostasis. Hence, DIC diagnosis is often only entertained when the patient already developed uncontrollable bleeding or multi-organ failure, all of which represent unsalvageable scenarios. Beyond the clinical presentations, the main issue with DIC diagnosis is in relation to coagulation test abnormalities. It is widely believed that in DIC, patients will have prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT), thrombocytopenia, low fibrinogen, and raised D-dimers. Diagnosis of DIC can be elusive during pregnancy and requires vigilance and knowledge of the physiologic changes during pregnancy. It can be facilitated by using a pregnancy specific DIC score including three components: 1) fibrinogen concentrations; 2) the PT difference - relating to the difference in PT result between the patient's plasma and the laboratory control; and 3) platelet count. At a cutoff of ≥26 points, the pregnancy specific DIC score has 88% sensitivity, 96% specificity, a positive likelihood ratio (LR) of 22, and a negative LR of 0.125. Management of DIC during pregnancy requires a prompt attention to the underlying condition leading to this complication, including the delivery of the patient, and correction of the hemostatic problem that can be guided by point of care testing adjusted for pregnancy.

Nonovert disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in pregnancy: a new scoring system for the identification of patients at risk for obstetrical hemorrhage requiring blood product transfusion

BACKGROUND

Nonovert disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a subclinical hemostatic dysfunction that has not yet reached the decompensation stage. The detection of pregnant patients at this stage may assist in the identification of those who will develop severe obstetrical hemorrhage, as it is one of the leading causes for preventable maternal mortality. Currently, nonovert DIC is diagnosed by a scoring system based on nonpregnant patients, originally generated by the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH), which does not address the physiologic changes of the hemostatic system during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES

(1) To develop a pregnancy-specific nonovert DIC score, (2) to determine the diagnostic performance of this score in detecting women at risk for obstetrical hemorrhage requiring blood product transfusion, and (3) to compare it to the existing ISTH nonovert DIC score.

STUDY DESIGN

This retrospective study has longitudinal and cross-sectional components and includes three steps: (1) characterization of the longitudinal changes in the components of modified ISTH nonovert DIC scores, including these parameters - fibrinogen, antithrombin III, protein C, prothrombin time (PT), platelets, thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complex, and D-dimer - during gestation in a group of normal pregnancies (n = 50); (2) development of a pregnancy-specific nonovert DIC score in a cross-sectional design of high-risk (n = 152) and control (n = 50) pregnancies, based on the predictive performance of each analyte for the detection of women at risk for obstetrical hemorrhage requiring blood product transfusion and a logistic regression model; and (3) comparison between the diagnostic performance of the pregnancy-specific nonovert DIC score and the modified ISTH nonovert DIC score to detect, upon admission, women who are at increased risk for subsequent development of obstetrical hemorrhage requiring blood product transfusion.

RESULTS

(1) The study cohort included 202 patients, of which 21 (10%) had obstetrical hemorrhage that required blood product transfusion and were considered to have nonovert DIC; (2) using the nonpregnant ISTH nonovert DIC score, 92% of the patients had a D-dimer concentration above the 0.5 mg/L threshold, and only 2% were identified to have a low fibrinogen concentration (<100 mg/dL); thus, this scoring system was unable to identify any of the patients with nonovert DIC based on the suggested cutoff of a score of ≥5; (3) the parameters included in the pregnancy-specific nonovert DIC score were selected based on their contribution to the performance of the model for the prediction of women at risk for obstetrical hemorrhage requiring blood product transfusion; as a result, we excluded the PT difference parameter from the score and the TAT complex concentration was added; and (4) a pregnancy-specific nonovert DIC score of ≥3 had a sensitivity of 71.4% and a specificity of 77.9% to identify patients at risk for obstetrical hemorrhage requiring blood product transfusion.

CONCLUSION

We propose (1) a pregnancy-specific nonovert DIC score adjusted for the physiologic changes in the hemostatic system during gestation; and (2) that the pregnancy-specific nonovert DIC score can be a useful tool for the identification of patients at risk for obstetrical hemorrhage requiring blood product transfusion.

The predictive value of pre-delivery laboratory test results for the severity of placental abruption and pregnancy outcome

INTRODUCTION

To analyze the relationship between placental abruption severity and maternal pregnancy outcome and to explore the predictive value of pre-delivery laboratory test results for the severity of placental abruption.

METHODS

The clinical datas of 126 patients with placental abruption diagnosed and treated in our hospital over the past 4 years were retrospectively analyzed. The severity of placental abruption was divided into degrees I to III. The pre-delivery laboratory results of all patients and data on maternal and fetal delivery outcomes were collected.

RESULTS

The analysis of maternal outcomes showed that the volumes of antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum hemorrhage and the rates of utero-placental apoplexy, uterine compression sutures and vascular embolization significantly increased with increasing placental abruption severity. Fetal delivery data revealed that 1- and 5-min Apgar scores decreased significantly with increasing placental abruption severity. Pre-delivery laboratory findings suggest that the white blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelet count, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine, prothrombin time (PT), prothrombin activity, prothrombin time - international standardization ratio (INR), D-dimer, fibrinogen (FIB), and fibrin degradation products (FDP) changed significantly with increasing placental abruption severity. Further analysis by Spearman and Pearson correlation found that the pre-delivery volume of antepartum hemorrhage, D-dimer, FDP and other indicators were correlated with placental abruption severity.

CONCLUSIONS

The harm of placental abruption to pregnant women and neonates increases with increasing abruption severity. Some laboratory test results can be predictors of placental abruption degree.

Placental abruption as a trigger of DIC in women with HELLP syndrome: a population-based study

BACKGROUND

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) is a life-threatening condition. Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets (HELLP) syndrome is one of the obstetrical syndromes mostly associated with DIC and thus, high rates of fatal complications. There is a lack of information regarding epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of women who developed HELLP syndrome with and without DIC. Additionally, until now, there is no adapted and widely accepted way to diagnose DIC among pregnant women presenting with HELLP syndrome, despite the evident maternal mortality linked to the disease.

Objectives: (1) Address the gaps in knowledge regarding the prevalence, epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of women with HELLP syndrome who develop DIC; and (2) determine the risk factors for the development of DIC among women with HELLP syndrome.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a population-based retrospective cohort study, including all women who delivered at the Soroka University Medical Center between the years 2001-2017. The study population was divided into three groups: (1) comparison group (n = 207,266 deliveries); (2) HELLP syndrome without DIC (n = 320); (3) HELLP syndrome with DIC (n = 21). The diagnosis of DIC was based on the ICD-9 code as recorded in the obstetrical database of the Soroka University Medical Center. The coding is based on the diagnosis made by the attending physician during hospitalization.

RESULTS

(1) The rate of HELLP syndrome in the study population was 0.16% (341/207,607), of them 6.16% (21/341) had DIC; (2) among patients with HELLP syndrome, those with DIC had a higher median gravidity and parity; (3) a higher rate of severe maternal morbidity including blood product transfusion, placental abruption, eclampsia, acute renal failure and maternal death was observed in those who had HELLP syndrome and DIC compared to those with HELLP syndrome without DIC and the comparison group (p-value <.001 for comparison among the three groups); (4) among women with HELLP syndrome, those with DIC had a longer median PT difference, higher serum creatinine and lower AST as well as ALT median concentrations than those without DIC; (5) patients with HELLP syndrome and DIC had a higher rate of stillbirth and postpartum death than patients in the other groups (p-value <.001 for comparison among the three groups); and (6) placental abruption was an independent risk factor for the development of DIC in women with HELLP syndrome (p-value <.001).

CONCLUSIONS

(1) Among women with HELLP syndrome, those who developed DIC had a higher rate of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality than those without DIC; and (2) placental abruption, but not abnormal liver function, was an independent risk factor for the development of DIC in women with HELLP syndrome.

Amniotic fluid embolism-associated coagulopathy: a single-center observational study

INTRODUCTION

Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) continues to be a rare, enigmatic condition with high maternal mortality. It is characterized by cardiovascular compromise, loss of consciousness or other neurologic symptoms, and coagulopathy. The latter is usually treated according to existing protocols for consumptive coagulopathy.

METHODS

Serial analyses of a panel of hemostaseological parameters were performed in three consecutive cases of AFE that occurred at our institution.

RESULTS

All mothers and neonates survived without major sequelae. Disproportionately low levels of fibrinogen and factor five, and exorbitantly elevated D-dimers were present in all cases, whereas markers of consumptive coagulopathy, platelets and antithrombin in particular, were only slightly reduced.

DISCUSSION

Our results support hyperfibrinolysis as contributing factor of AFE-associated coagulopathy. We, therefore, propose a treatment algorithm which includes early use of tranexamic acid and transfusion of red blood cells and fresh frozen plasma, adding fibrinogen if hemostasis is not readily achieved.

Successful treatment of amniotic fluid embolism complicated by disseminated intravascular coagulation with rivaroxaban: A case report

RATIONALE

An amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a rare, lethal syndrome that is commonly associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Anticoagulation therapy is the most important strategy to inhibit excessive activation of the coagulation cascade in patients with AFE and DIC. At present, treatment of AFE with rivaroxaban has not been reported.

PATIENT CONCERNS

We report a 37-year-old woman (gravida 2, para 1) at 39 weeks' gestation with irregular contractions of the uterus was admitted to the obstetrical department. Ten minutes after the spontaneous rupture of the membranes, the patient complained of dyspnea and dysphoria and exhibited cyanosis of her lips. The patient's blood pressure decreased and heart rate increased rapidly, and 2100 mL of unclotted blood flowed from her vagina within 1 hour. Her platelet count dropped to 21 × 10/L, and the results from routine coagulation tests, and D-dimer and fibrin degradation product tests were obviously abnormal.

DIAGNOSES

According to the current research consensus, AFE with DIC should be considered immediately when sudden cardiovascular collapse occurs around the time of labor and delivery, followed by the development of coagulopathy and hemorrhage.

INTERVENTIONS

In addition, the variety of supportive treatments, rivaroxaban was used in anticoagulant therapy.

OUTCOMES

At follow-up 30 and 60 days, there were no complaints of discomfort or abnormal laboratory assays. The patient recovered completely.

LESSONS

This case highlights that rivaroxaban, as a direct inhibitor of activated factor Xa, demonstrates a good therapeutic efficacy for treating AFE with DIC.

New method for determining fibrinogen and FDP threshold criteria by artificial intelligence in cases of massive hemorrhage during delivery

AIM

To investigate the feasibility of a novel method using artificial intelligence (AI), in which the fibrinogen criterion was determined by the quantitative relation between the distributions of fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products (FDPs) and fibrinogen.

METHODS

A dataset of 154 deliveries comprising more than 2000 g of blood lost due to hemorrhage, excluding disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), among patients from eight national perinatal centers in Japan from 2011 to 2015 were obtained. The fibrinogen threshold criterion was identified by using the function that best fit the distributions of FDP as determined by AI. FDP production was described by differential equations using a dataset containing fibrinogen levels less than the fibrinogen criterion and solved numerically.

RESULTS

A fibrinogen level of 237 mg/dL as the threshold criterion was obtained. The FDP threshold criteria were 2.0 and 8.5 mg/dL for no coagulopathy and a failed coagulation system, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The fibrinogen threshold criterion for patients with massive hemorrhage excluding DIC at delivery were obtained by selecting the functions that best fit the distributions of FDP data by using AI.

Diagnostic laboratory for bleeding disorders ensures efficient management of haemorrhagic disorders

Haemorrhagic disorders like Postpartum haemorrhage and Dengue haemorrhagic fever are life threatening and requires an active and efficient transfusion service that could provide the most appropriate blood product which could be effective in managing them. This would essentially require prompt identification of the coagulopathy so that the best available product can be given to the bleeding patient to correct the identified haemostatic defect which will help control the bleeding. This would only be possible if the transfusion service has a laboratory to correctly detect the haemostatic defect and that too with an accuracy and precision which is ensured by a good laboratory quality assurance practices. These same processes are necessary for the transfusion services to ensure the quality of the blood products manufactured by them and that it contains adequate amounts of haemostasis factors which will be good to be effective in the management of haemorrhagic disorders. These issues are discussed in detail individually in the management of postpartum haemorrhage and Dengue haemorrhagic fever including when these can help in the use of rFVIIa in Dengue haemorrhagic fever. The requirements to ensure good-quality blood products are made available for the management of these disorders and the same have also been described.

Sonoclot coagulation analysis: a useful tool to predict mortality in overt disseminated intravascular coagulation

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) contributes to high mortality. The study was performed to investigate Sonoclot as a potential predictor of 30-day survival in overt DIC. This cohort included 237 consecutive critically ill patients with overt DIC, admitted to a 15-bed multidisciplinary ICU between July 2010 and July 2013. Hemostasis was analyzed with Sonoclot, including activated clotting time (ACT), clot rate, and platelet function, as well as routine clotting test at admission to the critical care center. Sonoclot variables differed in survivors and nonsurvivors. Mean ACT was prolonged (289.9 ± 200.5 vs. 194.8 ± 126.6 s; P < 0.001) and platelet function (1.2 ± 0.9 vs. 1.6 ± 1.2; P = 0.010) was reduced in nonsurvivors. The clot rate was not different. Cox proportional-hazard model showed that ACT and platelet function correlated independently with survival (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis suggested that patients with one pathological Sonoclot findings have better outcome (P < 0.05). After ACT and platelet function were introduced, the receiver-operating characteristic area under the curve of model achieved 0.876 (P < 0.05), with a specificity of 82.6% and a sensitivity of 80.5% in prediction of 30-day survival by multivariate analyses. Our data suggest that the Sonoclot can predict mortality in critically ill patients with overt DIC.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is an acquired syndrome characterized by widespread intravascular activation of coagulation that can be caused by infectious insults (such as sepsis) and non-infectious insults (such as trauma). The main pathophysiological mechanisms of DIC are inflammatory cytokine-initiated activation of tissue factor-dependent coagulation, insufficient control of anticoagulant pathways and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1-mediated suppression of fibrinolysis. Together, these changes give rise to endothelial dysfunction and microvascular thrombosis, which can cause organ dysfunction and seriously affect patient prognosis. Recent observations have pointed to an important role for extracellular DNA and DNA-binding proteins, such as histones, in the pathogenesis of DIC. The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) established a DIC diagnostic scoring system consisting of global haemostatic test parameters. This scoring system has now been well validated in diverse clinical settings. The theoretical cornerstone of DIC management is the specific and vigorous treatment of the underlying conditions, and DIC should be simultaneously managed to improve patient outcomes. The ISTH guidance for the treatment of DIC recommends treatment strategies that are based on current evidence. In this Primer, we provide an updated overview of the pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of DIC and discuss the future directions of basic and clinical research in this field.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation in pregnancy: insights in pathophysiology, diagnosis and management

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a life-threatening situation that can arise from a variety of obstetrical and nonobstetrical causes. Obstetrical DIC has been associated with a series of pregnancy complications including the following: (1) acute peripartum hemorrhage (uterine atony, cervical and vaginal lacerations, and uterine rupture); (2) placental abruption; (3) preeclampsia/eclampsia/hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome; (4) retained stillbirth; (5) septic abortion and intrauterine infection; (6) amniotic fluid embolism; and (7) acute fatty liver of pregnancy. Prompt diagnosis and understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease leading to this complication in essential for a favorable outcome. In recent years, novel diagnostic scores and treatment modalities along with bedside point-of-care tests were developed and may assist the clinician in the diagnosis and management of DIC. Team work and prompt treatment are essential for the successful management of patients with DIC.

DIC score in pregnant women--a population based modification of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis score

Objectives

The objectives of this study were: 1) To determine the component needed to generate a validated DIC score during pregnancy. 2) To validate such scoring system in the identification of patients with clinical diagnosis of DIC.

Material and Methods

This is a population based retrospective study, including all women who gave birth at the ‘Soroka University Medical Center’ during the study period, and have had blood coagulation tests including complete blood cell count, prothrombin time (PT)(seconds), partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), fibrinogen, and D-dimers. Nomograms for pregnancy were established, and DIC score was constructed based on ROC curve analyses.

Results

1) maternal plasma fibrinogen concentrations increased during pregnancy; 2) maternal platelet count decreased gradually during gestation; 3) the PT and PTT values did not change with advancing gestation; 4) PT difference had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.96 (p<0.001), and a PT difference ≥1.55 had an 87% sensitivity and 90% specificity for the diagnosis of DIC; 5) the platelet count had an AUC of 0.87 (p<0.001), an 86% sensitivity and 71% specificity for the diagnosis of DIC; 6) fibrinogen concentrations had an AUC of 0.95 (p<0.001) and a cutoff point ≤3.9 g/L had a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 92% for the development of DIC; and 7) The pregnancy adjusted DIC score had an AUC of 0.975 (p<0.001) and at a cutoff point of ≥26 had a sensitivity of 88%, a specificity of 96%, a LR(+) of 22 and a LR(−) of 0.125 for the diagnosis of DIC.

Conclusion

We could establish a sensitive and specific pregnancy adjusted DIC score. The positive likelihood ratio of this score suggests that a patient with a score of ≥26 has a high probability to have DIC.