Successful reversal of deleterious coagulopathy by recombinant factor VIIa

Effective treatment of severe or uncontrolled bleeding is a challenge for physicians in the operating room and intensive care unit. However, even aggressive conventional therapy may ultimately fail in some patients. Administration of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) may be the only remaining therapeutic option to stop life-threatening coagulopathic bleeding. We here describe the clinical course of 5 patients exhibiting severe continuous bleeding that could not be stopped by surgical intervention and appropriate hemostatic management but resolved after a mean dose of 90 microg/kg of rFVIIa (range, 90-120 microg/kg). Four of the five patients recovered completely, and one patient died after developing sepsis in multiorgan failure. In all patients, bleeding from wound surfaces stopped within minutes of the administration of rFVIIa. Coagulation measurements improved, and transfusion requirements declined considerably. No adverse effects associated with rFVIIa were observed.