Data published by haematologists from Wuhan, China indicates that abnormal coagulation parameters can be a useful predictor of prognosis in pneumonia due to COVID-19 (Tang et al, 2020). Although the numbers in this study are small, the results demonstrate that 71% of non-survivors had overt disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), as demonstrated by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) DIC score, compared with only 0.6% of survivors. The DIC score is calculated from measurement of the platelet count, D-dimer, fibrinogen and prothrombin time (Taylor et al, 2001) as shown in this table:
| Parameter | Score |
| Platelet Count | |
| >100 x 109/L | 0 |
| 50-100 x 109/L | 1 |
| <50 x 109/L | 2 |
| D-dimer | |
| No increase | 0 |
| Moderate increase (1 – 10 times upper limit of normal) | 2 |
| Strong increase (> 10 times upper limit of normal) | 3 |
| Fibrinogen | |
| > 1.0 g/L | 0 |
| ≤ 1.0 g/L | 1 |
| Prothrombin time prolongation | |
| < 3 s | 0 |
| 3 – 6 s | 1 |
| > 6 s | 2 |
| Overt Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation | ≥ 5 |
Specimen Labelling Procedure
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