Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal logoLink to British Medical Journal
. 1971 Nov 27;4(5786):516–518. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5786.516

Coagulation Defects in Hypoxic Full-term Newborn Infants

M A Chadd, P C Elwood, O P Gray, S M Muxworthy
PMCID: PMC1799783  PMID: 5126955

Abstract

Blood clotting was examined in 24 consecutive full-term newborn infants with hypoxia and 23 normal control infants. There was evidence of a gross alteration in the clotting process in the hypoxic infants. The degree of disturbance in clotting seemed to be dependent on the severity of the hypoxia, suggesting a causal relationship. The mechanism involved seemed to be intravascular coagulation. The consumption of clotting factors involved led to the appearance of a haemorrhagic diathesis. This effect seemed to be of short duration, suggesting that direct liver damage plays at most a minor part.

Though there was no evidence of damage in the infants who survived, it is possible that intravascular coagulation induced by hypoxia, by leading to deposition of fibrin, may cause damage to vital organs. Further studies will be required to examine this possibility.

Full text

PDF
516

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ABALLI A. J., DE LAMERENS S. Coagulation changes in the neonatal period and in early infancy. Pediatr Clin North Am. 1962 Aug;9:785–817. doi: 10.1016/s0031-3955(16)31311-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berglund G. Three cases of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1970 Nov;59(6):664–668. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1970.tb17702.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bryant G. M., Gray O. P., Fraser A. J., Ackerman A. Fate of surviving low-birth-weight infants with coagulation deficiencies on the first day of life. Br Med J. 1970 Dec 19;4(5737):707–709. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5737.707. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. CROWELL J. W., SHARPE G. P., LAMBRIGHT R. L., READ W. L. The mechanism of death after resuscitation following acute circulatory failure. Surgery. 1955 Oct;38(4):696–702. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chessells J. M., Wigglesworth J. S. Secondary haemorrhagic disease of the newborn. Arch Dis Child. 1970 Aug;45(242):539–543. doi: 10.1136/adc.45.242.539. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. GRONTOFT O. Intracerebral and meningeal haemorrhages in perinatally deceased infants. I. Intracerebral haemorrhages; a pathologico-anatomical and obstetric study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1953;32(3):308–334. doi: 10.3109/00016345309157583. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gray O. P., Ackerman A., Fraser A. J. Intracranial haemorrhage and clotting defects in low-birth-weight infants. Lancet. 1968 Mar 16;1(7542):545–548. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(68)92827-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. HALLER E. S., NESBITT R. E., Jr, ANDERSON G. W. Clinical and pathologic concepts of gross intracranial hemorrhage in perinatal mortality. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 1956 Apr;11(2):179–204. doi: 10.1097/00006254-195604000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hathaway W. E., Mull M. M., Pechet G. S. Disseminated intravascular coagulation in the newborn. Pediatrics. 1969 Feb;43(2):233–240. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Merskey C., Kleiner G. J., Johnson A. J. Quantitative estimation of split products of fibrinogen in human serum, relation to diagnosis and treatment. Blood. 1966 Jul;28(1):1–18. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. WEFRING K. W. Hemorrhage in the newborn and vitamin K prophylaxis. J Pediatr. 1962 Nov;61:686–692. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(62)80339-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES