Anticoagulant therapy by continuous heparin-antithrombin III infusion in newborns with disseminated intravascular coagulation.

In ten newborns with severe alteration of the coagulation system due to DIC, AT III concentrate was infused continuously after prior activation with heparin. The rise in AT III activity showed a great variability among the infants and for one child during the course of the therapy. The mean rise of AT III activity by 40 U/kg per day heparin was 8.7%. If AT III concentrate (40 U/kg per day) was activated with 200 U/kg per day heparin, excessive anticoagulation effect was only observed in one child. In four children who had failed to respond to prior heparin therapy, improvement of the coagulation status was achieved within 2 days.