RESPONSE OF PLASMA PROTHROMBIN TO VITAMIN K SUBSTITUTE THERAPY IN CASES OF HEPATIC DISEASE

Considerable experimental and clinical data now at hand implicate the liver as the site of prothrombin formation.¹ Prothrombin deficiency has been reported as occurring in human subjects suffering from damage to the liver even though no biliary obstruction or fistula was present.² Wilson³ reported that in disease of the liver the degree of hypoprothrombinemia was directly proportional to the amount of hepatic damage as indicated by the hippuric acid test.

The data presented here are concerned with prothrombin studies made on 12 patients with various types of disease of the liver and a lowered level of plasma prothrombin. The initial value for prothrombin, the values after three days, one week and two weeks of treatment and the diagnosis in each case are presented in the table. The prothrombin determinations were made by a modified one stage procedure described elsewhere.⁴ Each patient received 8 mg. of 2-methyl-1,