A pregnant woman, 23 weeks gestation, is admitted due to spotting. The physician suspects that the patient is having disseminated intravascular coagulation and orders blood tests. The nurse checks her blood tests and expects:

Explanation

•Patients with DIC will have a PTT value longer than normal.

•DIC is a condition of an unknown cause and shows diffuse fibrin deposition within arterioles and capillaries. There is widespread, systemic coagulation and subsequent depletion of clotting factors. This prolongs PT and PTT values of patients

•The second and third choices are within normal range, while the platelet count of patients with DIC is usually decreased.

•Hemoglobin normal range is 14-18 g/dl for men and 12-16 g/dl for women.

•WBC normal range is 4,000-10,000 cells/ml.

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