The benefit of prothrombin complex concentrate in decreasing neurological deterioration in patients with warfarin-associated intracerebral haemorrhage

Combination Therapy Using Prothrombin Complex Concentrate and Vitamin K in Anticoagulated Patients with Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage Prevents Progressive Hemorrhagic Injury: A Historically Controlled Study

Warfarin remains crucially involved in the treatment of patients at thrombotic or thromboembolic risk. However, warfarin increases the mortality rate among patients with traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (TICH) through progressive hemorrhagic injury (PHI). Therefore, a rapid anticoagulation reversal could be required in patients with TICH to prevent PHI. Differences in the warfarin reversal effect between combination therapy of prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) with vitamin K (VK) and VK monotherapy remain unclear. However, studies have reported that PCC has greater effectiveness and safety for warfarin reversal compared with fresh frozen plasma (FFP). This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the warfarin reversal effects of combination therapy of PCC with VK and VK monotherapy on TICH. We compared the clinical outcomes between the periods before and after the PCC introduction in our hospital. There were 13 and 7 patients who received VK monotherapy and PCC with VK, respectively. PHI predictors were evaluated using univariate regression analyses. Warfarin reversal using PCC had a significant negative association with PHI (odds ratio: 0.03, 95% confidence interval: 0.00-0.41, P = 0.004). None of the patients presented with thrombotic complications. Warfarin reversal through a combination of PCC with VK could be more effective for inhibiting post-trauma PHI compared with VK monotherapy. This could be attributed to a rapid and stable warfarin reversal. PCC should be administered to patients with TICH taking warfarin for PHI prevention.

Reversal of warfarin anticoagulation in geriatric traumatic brain injury due to ground-level falls

Background

The efficacy of prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) compared with fresh frozen plasma (FFP) for reversal of oral anticoagulants has not been investigated in geriatric patients suffering intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) due to a ground-level fall (GLF).

Methods

Patients 65 years and older who were treated at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital between January 2011 and March 2018 with ICH after a GLF while taking warfarin were reviewed. Patients were reversed with either FFP (n=25) or PCC (n=27) and patient outcomes were compared. Separate analyses were conducted for patients who received adjuvant vitamin K administration and those who did not.

Results

Mortality rates, hospital length of stay, intensive care unit admission and length of stay were similar for both FFP and PCC intervention. There was no difference in radiological progression of hemorrhage within the first 24 hours of admission (FFP: 36%, PCC: 43%, p=0.365). In patients who had international normalized ratio (INR) values measured prior to intervention, 81% (17 out of 21) of the PCC group reached an INR value below 1.5 within an 8-hour period, whereas only 29% (4 out of 14) of the FFP group did (p=0.002). Vitamin K was concomitantly given to 28% of the patients receiving FFP, and 81% of those patients receiving PCC. No significant differences in outcomes were found whether adjunctive vitamin K was administered or not, in either FFP or PCC group. However, when vitamin K was not administered, the PCC group had a higher rate of INR reversal (80% vs. 10% for FFP, p=0.006).

Conclusion

Administration of PCC is as effective in short-term outcomes as FFP in treating geriatric patients on warfarin sustaining an ICH after a GLF. INR reversal was more successful, significantly faster, and required lower infusion volumes in patients receiving PCC.

Level of evidence

Level III.

Prothrombin Complex Concentrates for Perioperative Vitamin K Antagonist and Non-vitamin K Anticoagulant Reversal

Vitamin K antagonist therapy is associated with an increased bleeding risk, and clinicians often reverse anticoagulation in patients who require emergency surgical procedures. Current guidelines for rapid anticoagulation reversal for emergency surgery recommend four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate and vitamin K coadministration. The authors reviewed the current evidence on prothrombin complex concentrate treatment for vitamin K antagonist reversal in the perioperative setting, focusing on comparative studies and in the context of intracranial hemorrhage and cardiac surgery. The authors searched Cochrane Library and PubMed between January 2008 and December 2017 and retrieved 423 English-language papers, which they then screened for relevance to the perioperative setting; they identified 36 papers to include in this review. Prothrombin complex concentrate therapy was consistently shown to reduce international normalized ratio rapidly and control bleeding effectively. In comparative studies with plasma, prothrombin complex concentrate use was associated with a greater proportion of patients achieving target international normalized ratios rapidly, with improved hemostasis. No differences in thromboembolic event rates were seen between prothrombin complex concentrate and plasma, with prothrombin complex concentrate also demonstrating a lower risk of fluid overload events. Overall, the studies the authors reviewed support current recommendations favoring prothrombin complex concentrate therapy in patients requiring vitamin K antagonist reversal before emergency surgery.

Prothrombin Complex Concentrate for Vitamin K Antagonist-Associated Intracranial Hemorrhage - Global Evidence and the Japanese Perspective

Patients receiving vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are at increased risk of bleeding. Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this population, and is a particular concern among Japanese clinicians, given reports of an elevated risk of this bleeding type in patients of Asian ethnicity. Patients with VKA-associated ICH require rapid international normalized ratio (INR) reversal, and treatment guidelines suggest the use of prothrombin complex concentrates (PCCs) or plasma for this purpose. Although European and US guidelines recommend PCCs for the treatment of VKA-associated major bleeding, they do not make a specific recommendation in the setting of ICH, owing to the lack of comparative evidence. In contrast, Japanese guidelines recommend the use of PCCs rather than plasma for VKA reversal in patients with ICH; however, these agents are not currently licensed in Japan for this indication. Here we review the available evidence on the use of PCCs for the treatment of VKA-associated ICH, both globally and specifically in Japanese settings. Overall, the evidence reviewed here supports the use of PCC for rapid VKA reversal in these patients.