Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC): autopsy study of 36 patients.

A pathogenetic relationship between nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was sought by reviewing autopsies from a recent 12-year period. Of 4,783 autopsies, 36 patients were found to have NBTE. The histopathologic diagnosis of DIC in patients with NBTE was dependent on the observation of thrombi in vasa recta and central glomerular capillaries of the kidneys and in sinusoids, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and medium-sized veins of the major viscera. Morphologic evidence of DIC was found in 18 (50%) of the 36 patients with NBTE. In addition, venous and arterial thromboses were found in 13 patients (36%) and pulmonary thromboembolism in 17 (47%). These findings support the view that NBTE and DIC may be pathogenetically related and result from a hypercoagulable state.