Post-poliomyelitis syndrome: evidence of ongoing denervation in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

: Coagulation studies were carried out in 20 beta-thal children (five splenectomized) and 16 control children. It was found that the activities of factors II, VII, IX, and X (prothrombin complex group), V, and possibly I that are produced by hepatic parenchymal cells were uniformly depressed. Factor VIII activity was normal. There was no statistically significant difference in the prothrombin complex activity between the splenectomized and nonsplenectomized group, or those with and without parenteral vitamin K administration. The absence of "cold-activation" of factor VII in thal plasma, probably secondary to depressed activities of plasma kallikrein and HMW kininogen, further implicates liver involvement in these children.