Fig. 1.

Upper normal limits of reference range at Ospedali Riuniti (Ancona) were IL‐6: 5.2 pg mL⁻¹, thrombomodulin 11.2 ng mL⁻¹ and SP‐D 190 ng mL⁻¹; Using Mann–Whitney's U test; P‐value Il‐6 in responder vs non responder was 0.020, 0.001 and <0.001 at baseline, 24 and 72 h after infusion, respectively. Samples for IL‐6 at baseline were available in 36 patients, 40 patients at 24 h, and 35 patients at 72 h; vWf and thrombomodulin were tested 30 patients and for vWF in 20 normal controls; S‐PD was tested in 20 patients.