Investigation of outcomes following recombinant activated FVII use for refractory bleeding during abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the outcomes following recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) use during abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) repair.

DESIGN

AAA patients were selected from the Australian and New Zealand Haemostasis Registry (ANZHR) who received off-licence rFVIIa to control critical bleeding.

METHODS

Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared between responders (bleeding stopped/attenuated) and non-responders (bleeding continued) to rFVIIa, stratified by aneurysm status (ruptured (r-AAA) vs. non-ruptured (nr-AAA)). Patients were also scored using POSSUM (Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and morbidity) and Hardman Index mortality predictive models.

RESULTS

In total, 77 AAA patients were included in the analysis. Approximately 73% (n = 56) of them had ruptured aneurysms and about 50% (n = 35/70 with known data) responded positively to rFVIIa. Eleven incidents of thromboembolic adverse events were reported in 9 patients (6 r-AAA and 3 nr-AAA). Responders in both ruptured and non-ruptured groups had significantly lower 28-day mortality than non-responders (r-AAA: 40% (10/25) vs. 92% (24/26); P < 0.001; nr-AAA: 30% (3/10) vs. 67% (6/9); P < 0.01). Mortality predictive models did not show any difference between overall observed and expected mortality in ANZHR patients.

CONCLUSION

Patients who responded to rFVIIa had a lower mortality than those who did not respond to the treatment.