Pulmonary administration of activated recombinant factor VII

Diffuse alveolar haemorrhage (DAH) is a serious pulmonary complication seen in patients with autoimmune disorders and patients treated with chemotherapy or after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The clinical management of DAH is complex and the condition has a high mortality rate. During inflammation, tissue factor is expressed in the lung alveoli and therefore pulmonary administration of human recombinant activated factor VIIa (rFVIIa) could be a rational treatment option (4.1). A case report of the patient with an acute, bronchoscopically confirmed DAH from intensive care unit university hospital is described. The patient was treated by the intrapulmonary administration of 50 microg/kg rFVIIa in 50 ml of 0.9% sodium chloride; 25 ml into each of the main bronchi. An excellent response, defined as complete and sustained haemostasis after a single dose of rFVIIa was achieved. The oxygenation capacity, as reflected by the paO2/FiO2 (arterial oxygen pressure/inspiratory fractional oxygen content) ratio, decreased immediately after the bronchoscopy and the local rFVIIa instillation, but the following course of the patient's illness was favourable. Symptomatic therapy--intrapulmonary administration of one dose of rFVIIa was found to have an excellent haemostatic effect in the patient with DAH. The intrapulmonary administration of rFVIIa seemed to have a high benefit-to-risk ratio. These findings warrant further exploration (Ref. 12).