The Functional Role of Intravascular Coagulation in Renal Disease

Abstract

There is evidence of intravascular coagulation in accelerated hypertension and pre-eclamptic toxaemia, in all types of nephritis and in the haemolytic-uraemia syndrome. The kidneys have a two-fold defence mechanism, namely mesangial cell phagocytosis and endothelial cell fibrinolytic activity. Intravascular coagulation occurs in all those types of shock that result in acute renal failure: more often than not the primary cause is endotoxinaemia.