Disseminated intravascular coagulation in newborn infants. Prevalence in autopsies and significance as a cause of death.

Two hundred and one consecutive autopsies of the newborns were clinicopathologically analyzed for the prevalence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and its significance as a cause of death. DIC confirmed histopathologically by the presence of many microthrombi in three or more organs was accompanied in 24 cases (11.9%) with various underlying diseases. Factors predisposing to DIC in the newborns included hyaline membrane disease (29.2%), maternal complications (70.8%) and infections (16.7%). Microthrombi were found in the lungs of all the cases with DIC, but were rare in the kidneys, especially in glomeruli. Visceral lesions of DIC were characterized by a wide diversity of histopathological features including ischemic lesions.