RT Book, Section A1 Clark, Steven L. A2 Pacheco, Luis D. A2 Saade, George R. A2 Hankins, Gary D.V. SR Print(0) ID 1115521144 T1 Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy T2 Maternal Medicine YR 2015 FD 2015 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071824163 LK obgyn.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1115521144 RD 2024/03/29 AB Disseminated intravascular coagulation is a condition in which the normally finely tuned balance between localized clot formation and clot dissolution becomes disrupted throughout the vascular system. This may result in pathologic microvascular thrombotic obstruction and tissue ischemia, hemorrhage due to consumption of available clotting factors, or both. This condition may be encountered in a wide variety of clinical situations. However, DIC in pregnancy presents the clinician with special challenges due to profound changes in the baseline system of coagulation and fibrinolysis, the presence of potent thromboplastic initiators in placental tissue, and unique clinical considerations when dealing with a mother-fetus pair and the process of childbirth. This chapter will examine each of these issues.