Empyema thoracis causes high mortality, and its incidence is increasing in both children and adults. Parapneumonic effusions (PPEs) develop in about one-half of patients hospitalized with pneumonia, and their presence increases mortality by about four-fold. PPEs can be divided into simple PPEs, complicated PPEs, and frank empyema. Two guideline statements on the management of PPEs in adults hav...

INTRODUCTION Recently, we demonstrated that digestive tract cancer (DTC) is associated with reduced fibrin clot permeability and impaired fibrinolysis. AIM We investigated determinants of fibrinolysis in DTC patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS In 44 consecutive patients with DTC and 47 controls matched for age, sex, and cardiovascular risk, we evaluated fibrinolysis proteins, platelet activation...

Diabetes is characterized by impaired fibrinolysis. This phenomenon reflects augmented concentrations of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 in tissues and in blood. The derangement appears to depend in part on elevated concentrations of free fatty acids, triglycerides, and insulin in association with the insulin resistance syndrome. Impaired fibrinolysis may exacerbate already existing coro...

XIII, plasma transglutaminase). The amount of crosslinked a2-PI is proportional to the amount of a2PI present at the time of clotting. Plasma from a patient with congenital deficiency of a2PI was supplemented with various amounts of purified a2PI. Clots were prepared from these plasmas and were suspended in plasma containing a normal concentration of a2PI, and spontaneous clot lysis was observe...

Maggots of the blowfly Lucilia sericata are used for the treatment of chronic wounds. As haemostatic processes play an important role in wound healing, this study focused on the effects of maggot secretions on coagulation and fibrinolysis. The results showed that maggot secretions enhance plasminogen activator-induced formation of plasmin and fibrinolysis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. B...

The molecular mechanisms that finely co-ordinate fibrin formation and fibrinolysis are now well defined. The structure and function of all major fibrinolytic proteins, which include serine proteases, their inhibitors, activators and receptors, have been characterized. Measurements of real time, dynamic molecular interactions during fibrinolysis of whole blood clots can now be carried out in vit...

Until fairly recently, arteriosclerosis and its complications were philosophically accepted as an inevitable consequence of ageing; but the steady increase of coronary deaths in particular, and the equally steady decrease ^ the age of onset have put an end to such laissez-faire complacency. To Pinpoint the epidemic acceleration of coronary deaths, a senior colleague told me that when he took th...

Thrombomodulin-associated coagulopathy (TM-AC) is a newly recognized dominant bleeding disorder in which a p.Cys537Stop variant in the thrombomodulin (TM) gene THBD, results in high plasma TM levels and protein C-mediated suppression of thrombin generation. Thrombin in complex with TM also activates thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI). However, the effect of the high plasma TM on...

The objective was to study the effects of ethanol on coagulation and fibrinolysis in whole blood. Blood samples from healthy volunteers were analyzed before and after in-vitro addition of ethanol in order to achieve ethanol concentrations of 0, 1, 2 and 4 per thousand, respectively (0, 22, 44 and 88 mmol/l). Coagulation and fibrinolysis were then assessed using rotational thromboelastometry. We...