Disseminated intravascular coagulation as the laboratory hallmark of acute Q fever

Panagiota Athanassopoulou1, George Liatsos, Maria Pirounaki

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration, General Hospital of Athens, Vasilissis Sofias Ave 114, TK 11527, Athens, Greece. taniathan@hotmail.com

A 37-y-old white male presented with high fever, constitutional symptoms, mild meningeal and pulmonary involvement. Laboratory investigation revealed thrombocytopenia and excessive prolongation of coagulation times (International normalized ratio-INR- up to 6) requiring transfusion with 14 units of fresh frozen plasma. Serology established acute Coxiella burnetti infection. Patient recovered on levofloxacin.

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