Experiences with recombinant human factor VIIa in patients with thrombocytopenia

In addition to its proven benefits in hemophilia, recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa), is predicted to be of benefit in other situations characterized by profuse bleeding and impaired thrombin generation, due to its ability to enhance thrombin generation on already activated platelets. This article reviews studies that have described the use of rFVIIa in a variety of clinical settings involving refractory hemorrhage. Ex vivo studies revealed that, at pharmacologic doses, rFVIIa significantly shortened the lag time of thrombin generation, resulting in the formation of more thrombin during the initial coagulation process. Anecdotal clinical reports describe how rFVIIa has been used to resolve serious bleeding in thrombocytopenic patients and a study showed how rFVIIa positively reduced bleeding time in 52% of bleeding wounds in patients with thrombocytopenia. It is concluded that rFVIIa has a potential role in patients with thrombocytopenia and clinical hemorrhage.