[Disseminated intravascular coagulation (D.I.C.) and fibrinolysis in patients with acute leukemia (author's transl)].

Biological symptoms of D.I.C. were investigated in 43 patients with acute leukemia. Ten of them were found to be positive either at the onset or at the relapse of the disease and in some cases D.I.C. was triggered by chemotherapy. Among the ten positive cases 3 patients had an acute promyelocytic leukemia, 4 had an acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 2 a myeloblastic and 1 a monoblastic leukemia. D.I.C. was found either in patients with an hypercellular form of the disease or in patients with a normal or low white cell count. Symptoms of D.I.C. in acute leukemia must be systematicaly sought at the onset and during treatment by chemotherapy and treated with heparin and platelet transfusions as it is now admitted for acute promyelocytic leukemia.