The International Prospective Glanzmann Thrombasthenia Registry: Pediatric Treatment and Outcomes

Background  Standard treatment for Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT), a severe inherited bleeding disorder, is platelet transfusion. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) is reported to be effective in GT with platelet antibodies and/or refractoriness to platelet transfusions. Methods  We evaluated rFVIIa effectiveness and safety for the treatment and prevention of surgical and nonsurgical bleeding in children <18 years old, with or without platelet antibodies and/or refractoriness, as reported in the GT Registry (GTR). Data were used from the GTR, an international, multicenter, observational, postmarketing study of rFVIIa that prospectively collected data on the treatment and outcomes of bleeds in patients with GT. Only patients with a diagnosis of congenital GT were included in the registry. Results  Between 2007 and 2011, 27 children were treated for 44 surgical procedures (minor: 36; major: 8); nonsurgical bleeds occurred in 104 patients (599 episodes: severe, 145; moderate, 454; spontaneous, 423; posttraumatic, 176). The effectiveness of treatment for minor procedures, major procedures, nonsurgical bleeds was 6/6, 1/1, and 75/84 for rFVIIa, 6/6, 2/2, and 64/76 for rFVIIa + antifibrinolytics (AF), 11/12, 1/1, and 162/214 for platelets ± AF, and 5/6, 0/3, and 33/45 for rFVIIa + platelets ± AF. In all, 25 adverse events were reported in children; no thromboembolic events were reported. Conclusion  For all patients, regardless of platelet antibody or refractoriness status, rFVIIa, administered with or without platelets (± AF), provided effective hemostasis with a low frequency of adverse events in surgical, as well as nonsurgical, bleeding in patients with GT. clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01476423.