Coagulation inhibitors.

A number of types of coagulation inhibitors can be seen in autoimmune states. These inhibitors can produce hypocoagulability by at least three mechanisms: by acting as a circulating anticoagulant; by the production of a functionally abnormal procoagulant; or, by the occurrence of an isolated reduction in the plasma level of a coagulation factor. The most common is the circulating anticoagulant which acts by either neutralizing a specific blood coagulation factor or by interfering in some fashion with coagulation factor interactions. The different types of coagulation inhibitors, their laboratory, and clinical manifestations are discussed.