title: Administration of recombinant activated factor VII (NovoSeven) in three cases of uncontrolled bleeding caused by disseminated intravascular coagulopathy.
abstract: Recombinant activated factor VII has been used successfully in many cases of traumatic and surgical bleeding complications that were unresponsive to standard treatment. However, because disseminated intravascular coagulation can develop from a thrombin burst as a side effect of recombinant activated factor VII, it is not yet established for bleeding complications induced by disseminated intravascular coagulation. This article presents 3 patients with severe sepsis and fulminant disseminated intravascular coagulation. Excessive microvascular bleeding persisted despite conventional therapy, and surgical intervention and radiologic embolization did not control bleeding. After administration of recombinant activated factor VII, bleeding ceased in all patients, and no overt thromboembolic events occurred. One patient survived to be discharged from the hospital. The other 2 patients died from refractory multiorgan failure and overall poor prognosis. Recombinant factor VIIa might be an option for the treatment of severe bleeding complications in the case of DIC refractory to the conventional therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Surgical Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Austria.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Friesenecker
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Innerhofer
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koscielny
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Velik-Salchner
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mutz
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fries
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004211:Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005167:Factor VII / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015942:Factor VIIa; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009102:Multiple Organ Failure / Q000209:etiology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D005167:Factor VII; C103587:recombinant FVIIa; D015942:Factor VIIa