[Morphological diagnosis of DIC syndrome. Shock liver]

A total of 140 pathoanatomic conclusions and files collected by the author are analyzed. Morphological signs of the DIC syndrome were detected in 55% of patients who died. In 42% of lethal outcomes this syndrome was the final direct cause of death after such conditions as terminal stage of cancer, sepsis, extensive myocardial infarction, mechanical jaundice, uremia, bacteremia, etc. In 13% of autopsies fatal intravascular coagulation was a complication of the intervention or hemorrhage which was arrested before death. The DIC syndrome is diagnosed during autopsy due to a complex of peculiar changes in the viscera which are called "shock" in such cases. The signs of a shock liver are as follows: a characteristic red net pattern of the sliced surface and histological phenomena related to blocking of the sinusoidal bloodflow and lobular ischemia: abnormal hepatocyte complexes, fragmentation of liver bulks, and necrosis of the central lobules.