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Hypobaric Erythraemia: Pathology and Coagulation Studies *
Author(s) -
Garvey M. Bernadette,
Dennis Lewis H.,
Hildebrandt Paul K.,
Conrad Marcel E.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1969.tb01373.x
Subject(s) - fibrinogen , coagulation , medicine , coagulopathy , microcirculation , blood viscosity , platelet , pathology , coagulation testing , thrombosis , physiology
S ummary . Rhesus monkeys were made hypoxaemic and erythraemic by caging them in a hypobaric environment simulating an exposure to 17,500 feet above sea level for 28 days. Post‐mortem examination of animals dying during the experiment showed both haemorrhage and thrombosis in the brain and lungs and patchy demyelination in the spinal cord. Coagulation studies showed evidence of accelerated intravascular coagulation which was manifested by marked decreases in blood levels of Factors VIII and IX with less pronounced diminution of Factors V and XI. Platelet counts and the plasma fibrinogen concentration remained normal, but fibrinogen degradation products were found in serum specimens from hypobaric monkeys. Coagulation abnormalities improved following heparin therapy. The coagulopathy seemed more proximately related to erythrocytosis than exposure to the hypobaric atmosphere because coagulation abnormalities were not observed during the first week in an altitude chamber, and they persisted for 2 weeks after removal of the animals from a hypobaric environment. We postulated that the coagulation abnormalities were a manifestation of the hypercoagulable state resulting from increased blood viscosity in the microcirculation.