Blood coagulation defect in Masugi nephritis.

The platelet count and the coagulation pattern have been studied on the basic of nine laboratory tests in Masugi nephritis of the delayed type. Platelet consumption was found to constitute the initial manifestation of Masugi nephritis. The prenephritic stage and the manifestation of nephritis were invariably associated with hypercoagulability, as reflected by a loss of the spontaneous fibrinolytic activity of plasma, together with an elevation of the fibrinogen level and an increase in maximal thrombus elasticity. At the onset of nephritis the platelet count declines again. The hypercoagulability is attributed to intravascular coagulation in the kidney.