[Clinical significance of thrombin-antithrombin III complex and plasmin-alpha 2 plasmin inhibitor complex in chronic liver diseases].

Thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) and Plasmin-alpha 2 plasmin inhibitor complex (PIC) were examined in fifty two cases of various chronic liver diseases. TAT was significantly elevated in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but PIC did not show significant changes in any chronic liver diseases. Elevations of TAT and PIC were seen in cases of HCC accompanied by tumor enlargement and extensive tumor thrombosis. In cases of HCC undergoing transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE), TAT and PIC increased on the next day after TAE, and tended to recover with time, returning to almost normal at fourth week. Prolongation of prothrombin time, elevation of FDP and positive FM test were noted more often in liver cirrhosis with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) than in severe liver dysfunction without DIC. Of five cases confirmed as DIC, only three cases were diagnosed as DIC by DIC score. On the other hand, TAT and PIC were significantly elevated in DIC cases. Especially, TAT exceeded 30 ng/ml in all DIC cases. TAT was regarded to be useful for the diagnosis of DIC in severe liver dysfunction.