The appearance of schistocytes in the peripheral blood in correlation to the degree of disseminated intravascular coagulation. An experimental study in rats.

The infusion of thrombin in rats induced a disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) with haemolysis and schistocytosis. The number of schistocytes was found to be correlated to fibrinogen catabolism, plasma haemoglobin level and to the extent of fibrin deposition in the renal glomeruli in the early phase only. Later, no correlation could be observed, indicating a time-dependent behaviour of schistocytosis. The results suggest that a large number of schistocytes in blood smear is suspicious for DIC. These studies also support the concept that fibrin depositions in the blood vessels could play a role in the production of red cell fragmentation by mechanical destruction.