Background: Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a frequent complication in patients with sepsis and is associated with increased mortality. Anticoagulant therapy may be appropriate for certain patients with DIC, particularly those with increased disease severity and deficiency in the physiologic anticoagulant antithrombin.
Aims: The objective of this study is to develop a practical procedure for identifying the suitable target for antithrombin supplementation by categorizing patients with an estimated mortality rate ranging from 20 to 40%.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed post-marketing survey data from 1,562 patients with sepsis-associated DIC and antithrombin activity of 70% or less. This study received ethical approval from Juntendo University and Japan Blood Products Organization. Informed consent was waived by Juntendo University's Institutional Review Board due to data anonymity. All the patients were treated with antithrombin concentrates. Baseline SOFA score, DIC score, and antithrombin activity were assessed. Cox multivariate regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier curve analysis, and ROC curve analysis were performed to evaluate the performance of variables used to assess mortality. Furthermore, a decision tree was constructed to classify the risk of 28-day mortality.
Results: COX multivariate regression analysis demonstrated a significant association of age, sex, baseline SOFA score, baseline antithrombin activity, and the presence of pneumonia or skin/soft tissue infection with increased mortality. The area under the curve of SOFA score or antithrombin activity for mortality was 0.700 and 0.614, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that mortality was significantly higher in patients with SOFA score ≥12 and antithrombin activity < 47%. The decision tree analysis accurately classified the risk of death into high (> 40%), medium (40%–20%), and low ( < 20%) categories in 86.1% of the cohort.
Conclusion(s): Twenty eight-day mortality can be strongly predicted using baseline SOFA score, antithrombin activity, infection site, age, and sex as variables in the clinical decision tree for patients with sepsis-associated DIC.