The effect of activated factor VII for intracerebral hemorrhage beyond 3 hours versus within 3 hours

Eligibility for randomized trials of treatments specifically for intracerebral hemorrhage: community-based study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Acute treatments specifically for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are being sought in randomized controlled trials. The treatment effect sizes in ongoing and future trials are likely to be small, necessitating large sample sizes.

METHODS

We searched online trial registries for randomized controlled trials investigating an acute treatment for ICH. For the trials whose eligibility criteria could be assessed in a prospective, community-based ICH cohort study (2010-2011), we quantified the proportions of patients who were eligible and investigated influences on these proportions.

RESULTS

We applied the eligibility criteria of 17 trials to 166 adults with ICH, of whom between 0.6% (95% confidence interval, 0.1-3.3) to 40% (95% confidence interval, 33-48) were eligible for each trial. Fewer patients were eligible for trials restricted to patients randomized within 12 hours of ICH onset (versus trials with a longer time window; P=0.03) and trials restricting eligibility according to premorbid disability (versus trials without this restriction; P=0.046). Each additional eligibility criterion reduced the portion of eligible patients by 1.3% (95% confidence interval, 0.4-2.2; adjusted R(2)=0.47; P=0.004).

CONCLUSIONS

Less than half of patients with ICH were eligible for current randomized controlled trials. Future trials could maximize enrollment by minimizing the number of eligibility criteria, maximizing the time window for recruiting patients after ICH onset, permitting premorbid disability, and using a simulator to assess the impact of other eligibility critiera (www.dcn.ed.ac.uk/ICHsimulator/).

Systematic review: benefits and harms of in-hospital use of recombinant factor VIIa for off-label indications

BACKGROUND

Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa), a hemostatic agent approved for hemophilia, is increasingly used for off-label indications.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the benefits and harms of rFVIIa use for 5 off-label, in-hospital indications: intracranial hemorrhage, cardiac surgery, trauma, liver transplantation, and prostatectomy.

DATA SOURCES

Ten databases (including PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library) queried from inception through December 2010. Articles published in English were analyzed.

STUDY SELECTION

Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts to identify clinical use of rFVIIa for the selected indications and identified all randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies for full-text review.

DATA EXTRACTION

Two reviewers independently assessed study characteristics and rated study quality and indication-wide strength of evidence.

DATA SYNTHESIS

16 RCTs, 26 comparative observational studies, and 22 noncomparative observational studies met inclusion criteria. Identified comparators were limited to placebo (RCTs) or usual care (observational studies). For intracranial hemorrhage, mortality was not improved with rFVIIa use across a range of doses. Arterial thromboembolism was increased with medium-dose rFVIIa use (risk difference [RD], 0.03 [95% CI, 0.01 to 0.06]) and high-dose rFVIIa use (RD, 0.06 [CI, 0.01 to 0.11]). For adult cardiac surgery, there was no mortality difference, but there was an increased risk for thromboembolism (RD, 0.05 [CI, 0.01 to 0.10]) with rFVIIa. For body trauma, there were no differences in mortality or thromboembolism, but there was a reduced risk for the acute respiratory distress syndrome (RD, -0.05 [CI, -0.02 to -0.08]). Mortality was higher in observational studies than in RCTs.

LIMITATIONS

The amount and strength of evidence were low for most outcomes and indications. Publication bias could not be excluded.

CONCLUSION

Limited available evidence for 5 off-label indications suggests no mortality reduction with rFVIIa use. For some indications, it increases thromboembolism.

Off-label recombinant factor VIIa use and thrombosis in children: a multi-center cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To describe the off-label use of recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) in tertiary care pediatric hospitals across the United States and to assess thrombotic events.

STUDY DESIGN

A retrospective multi-center cohort study using the Pediatric Health Information System administrative database. Children 18 years of age or younger who received rFVIIa between 2000 and 2007 were included. A label admission was defined as an admission with an International Classification of Diseases diagnostic code for hemophilia or factor VII deficiency; admissions without these codes were classified as off-label.

RESULTS

There were 4942 rFVIIa admissions, representing 3764 individual subjects; 74% (3655) of the admissions were off-label. There was a 10-fold increase in the annual rate of off-label admissions from 2000 to 2007 (from 2 to 20.8 per 10 000 hospital admissions, P < .001). The mortality rate in the off-label group was 34% (1258/3655). Thrombotic events occurred in 10.9% (399/3655) of the off-label admissions.

CONCLUSIONS

The off-label use of rFVIIa in hospitalized children is increasing rapidly despite the absence of adequate clinical trials demonstrating safety and efficacy. Thrombotic events are common and mortality is high among patients receiving off-label rFVIIa. Further studies are warranted to determine whether these adverse events are attributable to rFVIIa.

Systematic review: benefits and harms of in-hospital use of recombinant factor VIIa for off-label indications

BACKGROUND

Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa), a hemostatic agent approved for hemophilia, is increasingly used for off-label indications.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the benefits and harms of rFVIIa use for 5 off-label, in-hospital indications: intracranial hemorrhage, cardiac surgery, trauma, liver transplantation, and prostatectomy.

DATA SOURCES

Ten databases (including PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library) queried from inception through December 2010. Articles published in English were analyzed.

STUDY SELECTION

Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts to identify clinical use of rFVIIa for the selected indications and identified all randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies for full-text review.

DATA EXTRACTION

Two reviewers independently assessed study characteristics and rated study quality and indication-wide strength of evidence.

DATA SYNTHESIS

16 RCTs, 26 comparative observational studies, and 22 noncomparative observational studies met inclusion criteria. Identified comparators were limited to placebo (RCTs) or usual care (observational studies). For intracranial hemorrhage, mortality was not improved with rFVIIa use across a range of doses. Arterial thromboembolism was increased with medium-dose rFVIIa use (risk difference [RD], 0.03 [95% CI, 0.01 to 0.06]) and high-dose rFVIIa use (RD, 0.06 [CI, 0.01 to 0.11]). For adult cardiac surgery, there was no mortality difference, but there was an increased risk for thromboembolism (RD, 0.05 [CI, 0.01 to 0.10]) with rFVIIa. For body trauma, there were no differences in mortality or thromboembolism, but there was a reduced risk for the acute respiratory distress syndrome (RD, -0.05 [CI, -0.02 to -0.08]). Mortality was higher in observational studies than in RCTs.

LIMITATIONS

The amount and strength of evidence were low for most outcomes and indications. Publication bias could not be excluded.

CONCLUSION

Limited available evidence for 5 off-label indications suggests no mortality reduction with rFVIIa use. For some indications, it increases thromboembolism.

Quantomo: Validation of a Computer-Assisted Methodology for the Volumetric Analysis of Intracerebral Haemorrhage

Background

Volume measurements of intracerebral haemorrhage are prognostically important and are increasingly used in clinical trials to measure the effects of potential interventions. The purpose of this work is to establish the reliability of haematoma volume measurements obtained using a computer-assisted method called Quantomo (for quantitative tomography) and the ABC/2 method.

Hypothesis

Quantomo reliably detects smaller changes in intracerebral haemorrhage volume as compared with the ABC/2 method because computer-assisted volume measurements are tailored to measure the geometry of individual haematoma volumes whereas the ABC/2 method approximates all haematoma volumes as ellipsoids.

Methods

Thirty randomly selected computed tomography scans with intracerebral haemorrhage were measured by four raters a total of four times each (two sessions using Quantomo and two using the ABC/2 method). Interrater and intrarater reliability for both techniques were calculated simultaneously using a two-way random-effects analysis of variance model. The precision of intracerebral haemorrhage volume measurement was quantified as the minimum detectable difference with 95% confidence intervals.

Results

The median (first quartile and third quartile) intracerebral haemorrhage volume measurements of all rater and sessions for Quantomo were 32·7 ml (6·2 and 54·4 ml) and for ABC/2 40·7 ml (8·6 and 76·0 ml). Quantomo intracerebral haemorrhage volume measurements were more precise, having an inter- and intrarater minimum detectable difference of 8·1 and 5·3 ml, while the inter- and intrarater minimum detectable difference for ABC/2 were 37·0 and 15·7 ml.

Conclusions

Quantomo is a computer-assisted methodology that is more reliable for quantifying intracerebral haemorrhage volume as compared with the ABC/2 method.