Disseminated intravascular coagulation in the aged complicated by acute myocardial infarction.

The incidence and pathologic features of cardiac lesions in 184 autopsied aged patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) were reported. Coronary thrombosis was noted in 31 (16.8%), fresh myocardial necrosis in 60 (32.6%) and massive myocardial hemorrhage in 49 (26.6%) of these patients. Fresh myocardial infarction was present in 16 (8.7%) patients, 13 of whom manifested coronary thrombosis. The site of thrombi deposition was closely related to preexisting stenotic lesions of the coronary arteries. Only 3 of 16 patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation and acute myocardial infarction had typical cardiac symptoms. In most patients, the electrocardiographic changes were equivocal or not diagnostic for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. We suggest the possibility that coronary thrombi in disseminated intravascular coagulation may gradually increase in extent and severity, leading to confluent areas of myocardial necrosis. The possibility of death due to heart failure, arrhythmia or cardiac rupture, points to the importance of recognizing the frequent cardiac involvement in aged patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation.