Coagulation studies in Gambian trypanosomiasis.

Simple coagulation studies were carried out in 18 patients with advanced Trypanosoma gambiense infection. No evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation was found. Many patients had a moderate degree of thrombocytopenia which may have been due to enhanced splenic trapping of platelets. Most patients had raised levels of fibrin degradation products in their cerebrospinal fluid, perhaps reflecting the presence of underlying cerebral and meningeal vascular damage. Addition of viable trypanosomes or of trypanosome extracts to human and rat blood did not produce significant thrombocytopenia in vitro.