Case Report

Overt Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation with Severe Hypofibrinogenemia During Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

^* Department of Anesthesiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; and
^† Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Address correspondence to: Michael Mazzeffi, MD, MPH, MSc, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 22 South Greene Street, S11C00, Baltimore, MD 21201. E-mail: mmazzeffi@som.umaryland.edu

Received: 22 March 2021
Accepted: 14 May 2022

Abstract

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a life-threatening hematologic derangement characterized by dysregulated thrombin generation and excessive fibrinolysis. However, DIC is poorly characterized in the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) population, and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Several mechanisms contribute to DIC in ECMO, including consumption of coagulation factors, acquired von Willebrand’s syndrome leading to thrombocytopenia, and hyperfibrinolysis. There are few case reports of DIC in adult ECMO patients. Most are in the context of venoarterial ECMO, which is typically used in the setting of cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest. These disease states themselves are known to be associated with DIC, liver failure, impaired anticoagulant mechanisms, and increased fibrinolysis. We present an unusual case of a 74-year-old man who developed overt DIC during veno-venous (VV) ECMO. DIC resulted in clinical bleeding and severe hypofibrinogenemia requiring massive cryoprecipitate transfusion of 87 pooled units. When the patient was decannulated from ECMO, his platelet count and fibrinogen concentration improved within 24 hours, suggesting that ECMO was a proximate cause of his DIC.