Summary
Infection is the leading cause of death in the burned patient. To study the effects
of uncomplicated and lethally-infected burn wounds on certain hematologic indices,
a dorsal scald burn was administered to 250 rats. One group was then infected with
Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These rats expired within 10 days. A burned, uninfected, group survived. Sequential
determinations were made of fibrinogen, fibrinolysis, antiplasmins, plasminogen antiactivators,
cultures, and autopsy findings.
Fibrinogen concentrations were higher in the infected animals within 2 days postbum
and at day 3 (p <0.05). Plasminogen levels fell precipitously 3 days postburn in the
burned-infected group. Acid neutralization of antiplasmins was not entirely effective.
Serum from infected animals markedly prolonged the lysis time of clots in a standard
test system, lowered plasmin activity in the caseinolytic assay, and transiently prolonged
the euglobulin lysis time.
The cause of these findings remains unknown. The marked fall in plasminogen in the
infected animals may be entirely due to unneutralized antiplasmin activity and was
coincident with a decline in fibrin-related antigens. These antiplasmins may exert
deleterious effects on microcirculatory dynamics and were closely linked to the animals’
demise.
