[Alpha 2plasmin-inhibitor . plasmin complex (PIC)--useful diagnostic and prognostic parameter].

To evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of PIC, we compared it with the DIC score (which is calculated from platelet count, fibrinogen, FDP, and prothrombin time). We examined 182 samples from 60 patients with coaglo-fibrinolytic abnormalities. For the diagnosis of DIC, the sensitivity of PIC was significantly higher than that of DIC score (78.46% vs 43.08%; chi 2-test p less than 0.01), although the specificity of PIC was significantly lower than that of DIC score (32.48% vs 69.23%; chi 2-test p less than 0.01). For the prediction of prognosis, the peak value of PIC and DIC score during the patient's clinical course were evaluated. The non-survivors (n = 33) had significantly higher levels of peak PIC and DIC scores than the survivors (n = 27) (peak PIC: 6.1 + 9.0 micrograms/ml vs 2.2 + 3.3, p less than 0.05; peak DIC score: 4.6 + 2.4 points vs 3.3 + 2.2, p less than 0.05). The patients with a peak PIC of more than 4.0 micrograms/ml had a mortality of over 90%. These results show that PIC is a useful diagnostic and prognostic parameter.