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General and Systemic Histopathology, C601&C602
     
    Slide 135: Kidney with DIC
     
     
    The best bet here is to look in the small vessels of the cortex, especially the glomeruli for the diagnostic changes. You're looking for thrombi composed only of protein.  If you see what looks like thrombi with lots of RBC's in them, it's not what we're looking for. 

    See this slide with the virtual microscope.

    With disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), the person experiences "run away" intravascular blood clotting. This condition never just happens out of the proverbial blue. It is always a complication of something else that can trigger the clotting system, such as the leakage of amniotic fluid into the circulatory system in the course of some obstetrical disaster. As you might expect, there will be small thrombi in vessels through-out the body. This becomes an ischemic disease on the cellular level. People bleed with this condition because of the breakdown of the small vessels and consumption of the clotting agents. Causes are gram negative sepsis, massive trauma, OB disasters, etc.


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