Treatment of patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation by protein C.

The therapeutic effect of highly purified protein C (PC) or activated protein C (APC) on three patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was tested. In two out of three cases, although therapeutic dose of heparin was not effective, PC or APC administration significantly improved the hypercoagulable state. In one case with acute leukemia who developed DIC with the severe gastrointestinal bleeding, APC corrected the hypercoagulable state without aggravating bleeding. These findings suggested that PC and/or APC might be effective in correcting hypercoagulable state without any adverse effect.