Should recombinant factor Vlla be used for the treatment of patients with severe blunt trauma? (49kb)
Dr MR Duffy
British Journal of Hospital Medicine 68(12): 688
(Dec 2007)
Recombinant factor VIIa
(rFVIIa, NovoSeven; Novo Nordisk, Denmark) was approved by the European Union in 1996 for the treatment of spontaneous bleeding in haemophiliacs with inhibitors to factors VIII or IX. Additional licensed indications have now broadened to include the treatment of patients with factor VII deficiency and Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia. Based on the ability of rFVIIa to generate thrombin at the site of injury, there has also been interest in the potential of rFVIIa as a pro-haemostatic agent in patients with acquired coagulopathy. Since rFVIIa was first described in the literature over half of all the publications related to rFVIIa describe its ‘off-label’ use. In particular, there has been a great deal of interest generated in its role as an adjunctive treatment in traumatic injury.
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