Preoperative disseminated intravascular coagulation complicated by thoracic aortic aneurysm treated using recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin: A case report.

RATIONALE Chronic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) associated with thoracic aortic aneurysm is characterized by enhanced fibrinolysis and is thought to be stable in the compensated/asymptomatic stage, with few bleeding symptoms. However, DIC can lead to decompensated/hemorrhagic stage disseminated intravascular coagulation, resulting in severe bleeding diathesis, and there is currently no established strategy for treatment of DIC in aortic aneurysms. PATIENT CONCERNS A 77-year-old woman underwent angiography and cardiac catheterization, before descending aortic replacement surgery. She developed DIC in postprocedure week 2 with extensive, uncontrollable massive subcutaneous hemorrhage. DIAGNOSES Her acute-phase DIC score was 7 points, and the risk of mortality within 30 days after surgery according to the JapanSCORE was estimated to be 33.6%. INTERVENTIONS Therapy was a combination of recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (rhTM) and an aortic stent-graft treatment. OUTCOMES Short-term improvements were seen in both DIC and bleeding diathesis. The thoracic aortic aneurysm with severe DIC was eventually corrected by administration of rhTM. LESSONS We report the use of rhTM as an effective, novel anticoagulant drug with anti-inflammatory activity for treating DIC with suppressed fibrinolysis, which is typically associated with sepsis. In patients with a high hemorrhagic diathesis, in whom preoperative control of DIC cannot be achieved with conventional anticoagulation and radical surgical repair cannot be performed, a combination of rhTM and endovascular therapy may be a powerful new treatment option.