Simon Bertram Flæng, who defended his PhD dissertation today, has conducted three studies on the incidence, prognosis, and treatment of infection-associated disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a serious disorder of the coagulation system. It is characterized by the formation of microthrombi, and consumption of platelets and coagulation factors can lead to massive bleeding. Despite being a devastating disease with high mortality, the current epidemiological knowledge of DIC remains limited. To provide new insights, a cohort of patients with DIC was established in the Central Denmark Region from January 2011 through June 2021.

Potential DIC cases were identified through coagulation biomarkers in the hospital laboratory database, with final diagnoses confirmed by electronic medical records review. The cohort was used to examine time trends in DIC incidence and mortality as well as prognostic factors.

The overall DIC incidence rate in the Central Denmark Region population declined from 2013 to 2020. However, mortality among patients with DIC did not improve during the observation period. The association between ABO blood type and mortality was examined in patients with infection-associated DIC. No clinically meaningful differences in mortality were found among ABO blood types. Lastly, the association between infection type and mortality was explored in patients with infection-associated DIC. The absolute mortality was high, and variations among infection types were observed.

The summary is written by the PhD student.