INDIUM-111-LABELED PLATELETS ACCUMULATION OVER ABDOMINAL AORTIC GRAFTWITH CHRONIC DISSEMINATED INTRAVASCULAR COAGULATION - A CASE-HISTORY

The authors describe a seventy-six-year-old man with aortic graft, whi ch became the focus of chronic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The patient had abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and the size ha d increased up to 38 mm in diameter. The AAA was excised and replaced by Dacron graft. Ten months later, the DIC became chronic with renal d ysfunction. Indium 111-labeled platelets scintigraphy showed increased accumulation of radioactivity over the graft. In the treatment of chr onic DIC, low-dose subcutaneous heparin injection (5,000-10,000/day) w as effective, and he was discharged. In this case there was also suspi cion of lung cancer and recurrent aortic aneurysm, which were a more r easonable cause of chronic DIC. This case suggests that an aortic graf t prosthesis may be a cause of localized chronic DIC and that indium 1 11-labeled platelets scintigraphy is useful for the detection of local ized chronic DIC. Moreover, subcutaneous heparin administration may be effective for chronic DIC in patients with an abdominal aortic graft prosthesis.