**4.5 Disseminated intravascular coagulation**

Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (eCPR) with VA-ECMO has become a reality in today's medicine to rescue patients in refractory cardiac arrest. DIC therefore becomes an important issue in this subset of patients who experience serious abnormalities in coagulation and thrombosis. Survival of adults supported by eCPR in adults is lower than that noted in patients supported on VA-ECMO [30]. In a retrospective analysis of eCPR patients it was noted they had consistently higher DIC scores and the mean DIC scores was significantly different between survivors and non-survivors [31]. It may be reasonable to use DIC scores in prognostication in these patients. Further studies are warranted in this area. Such prognostication remains very important as it can curtail excessive use of blood products.
