title: Prospective validation of the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis scoring system for disseminated intravascular coagulation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is hampered by the lack of an accurate diagnostic test. Based on the retrospective analysis of studies in patients with DIC, a scoring system (0-8 points) using simple and readily available routine laboratory tests has been proposed. The aim of this study was to prospectively validate this scoring system and assess its feasibility, sensitivity, and specificity in a consecutive series of intensive care patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort of intensive care patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult intensive care unit in a tertiary academic center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients with a clinical suspicion of disseminated intravascular coagulation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were followed during their admission to the intensive care unit, and the DIC score was calculated every 48 hrs and compared with a "gold standard" based on expert opinion. In addition, an activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) waveform analysis, which has been reported to be a good predictor for the absence or presence of DIC, was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analyzed 660 samples from 217 consecutive patients. The prevalence of DIC was 34%. There was a strong correlation between an increasing DIC score and 28-day mortality (for each 1-point increment in the DIC score, the odds ratio for mortality was 1.25). The sensitivity of the DIC score was 91% and the specificity 97%. An abnormal aPTT waveform was seen in 32% of patients and correlated well with the presence of DIC (sensitivity 88%, specificity 97%). In 19% of patients, the aPTT waveform-based diagnosis of DIC preceded the diagnosis based on the scoring system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A diagnosis of DIC based on a simple scoring system, using widely available routine coagulation tests, is sufficiently accurate to make or reject a diagnosis of DIC in intensive care patients with a clinical suspicion of this condition. An aPTT waveform analysis is an interesting and promising tool to assist in the diagnostic management of DIC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bakhtiari
authors.forename: Joost C M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Meijers
authors.forename: Evert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Jonge
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001780:Blood Coagulation Tests; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D004211:Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006487:Hemostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010314:Partial Thromboplastin Time; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D015996:Survival Rate; D014914:Whole Blood Coagulation Time