[Trombotic endocarditis and its correlation to disseminated intravascular coagulation]

6275 autopsies performed at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Zurich in the period 1973--1976 included 47 microscopically verified cases of thrombotic endocarditis. Thirty of these patients harboured a neoplasm, most often of the gastro-intestinal tract. Twelve died from arterial emboli, particularly to the central nervous system, although valvular disease of the heart was not manifest clinically. The association of thrombotic endocarditis and histologic evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation was seen in a different group of 30 cases. Patients with carcinomas and thrombotic endocarditis exhibited microthrombi to a significantly higher degree than a comparable control group with carcinomas but without thrombotic endocarditis. There results confirm that hypercoagulability may well be the denominator common to both thrombotic endocarditis and disseminated intravascular coagulation.