Abstract
Abstract 3487
Poster Board III-424
Hemophilia patients with inhibitors are treated with bypassing agents for which hemostatic efficacy is unpredictable. While both activated prothrombin complex concentrate and recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) have demonstrated excellent safety profiles, neither product is a universal hemostatic agent and the variability of response to bypassing agents complicates the treatment in these patients. Moreover, the lack of a validated laboratory assay to measure the effectiveness of bypassing agents dramatically limits the optimisation of treatment strategies. As the final enzyme generated by bypassing agents is thrombin, thrombin generation assay (TGA) could theoretically be used for monitoring rFVIIa. However, TGA does not reflect the stability of the fibrin clot and its resistance to fibrinolysis which are essential parameters of hemostasis. We have therefore evaluated the use of an additional method that might provide complementary information on fibrin clot structure and stability, and would allow a better prediction of the biological efficacy of rFVIIa.
In the absence of FVIII/FIX, fibrin fibres are abnormally thick and clots are overly susceptible to fibrinolysis. After treatment with rFVIIa, clots are less porous and fibrin fibres are thinner as assessed using scanning electron microscopy. Using whole blood thromboelastography (TEG) measuring viscoelastic changes of fibrin throughout clot initiation, formation and fibrinolysis, we developed an in vitro model to assess fibrin clot stability and resistance to fibrinolysis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the correlation between the modifications of the fibrin clot structure and the stability of the fibrin clots obtained in the presence of rFVIIa.
The in vitro effect of rFVIIa was tested in 6 severe hemophilia A patients at doses of 90 – 180 – 270 μg/kg. Thrombin generation (TG) was measured in platelet rich plasma using the CAT method in the presence of TF 1pM. After addition of rFVIIa, the improvement in TG capacity was compared to normal values obtained from 80 control males. Fibrin clots obtained from the TG measurements were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fibrin diametres were measured (700 measurements on each sample). In the same samples, the stability of fibrin clots obtained before and after addition of rFVIIa was assessed using TEG-5000™. Clot resistance to fibrinolysis was recorded in the presence of TF 0.5pM and tPA 0.125μM. TEG-tPA and SEM results were compared to those obtained in 30 healthy control males.
A dose dependent increase of TG was observed in the presence of increasing doses of rFVIIa (p<0.0001; ANOVA). In the presence of rFVIIa 90μg/kg, TG capacity was significantly improved in all patients (p=0.0023; Mann Whitney), and was completely normalized in 4 patients while 2 others needed higher doses of rFVIIa to normalize their TG. The fibrin fibre diameters were thicker (217±16 nm; p<0.0001) in all hemophilia patients in comparison with controls (170±24 nm). After addition of rFVIIa 90μg/kg, the fibrin clot structure was modified and the diameter of fibrin fibres was dramatically decreased in all patients (184±11 nm; p=0.006). A further improvement of fibrin clot structure was observed with rFVIIa 180μg/kg in only one patient. TEG-tPA showed a dose-dependent improvement of fibrin clot stability in the presence of rFVIIa (p<0.0001; ANOVA). A reverse correlation was observed between fibrin fibre diametres and resistance of fibrin clots to fibrinolysis (r=-0.68, p=0.001; Spearman test).
This data demonstrates a statistically significant correlation between clot structure and its stability. The combined use of TGA with TEG-tPA may allow physicians to better evaluate the individual response of patients to bypassing agents. The clinical validity of the minimal individual dose of rFVIIa normalizing both TGA and TEG-tPA needs to be verified in clinical studies.
No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Author notes
Asterisk with author names denotes non-ASH members.
