Ineffective off-label use of recombinant activated factor VII in a case of bone-marrow transplantation-related gastrointestinal bleeding

Background: For patients with a normal coagulation system, who experience serious bleeding, sound evidence for recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) as an effective haemostatic agent is only scarcely available so far from controlled clinical trials. In systematic reviews on the clinical use of rFVIIa,treatment failures were only rarely reported. Case presentation: We present a 45-year old, Caucasian male with persistent intestinal bleeding due to enterocolitis associated with cytornegalovirus infection and acute graft-versus-host-disease. He had received allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation from an unrelated HLA-identical donor because of chronic myelogenous leukaemia diagnosed two years earlier. Bleeding started at day 18 after transplantation with bloody diarrhea, which was treated with multiple transfusions of fresh frozen plasma, platelet, and red blood cell concentrates, and continued relentlessly, despite all efforts, including continued transfusions, high-dose prednisolone, broad antibiotic and antiviral coverage, and tranexamic acid. Recombinant FVIIa was started at boluses of 90-120 μg/kg every 4-8 hours. Despite more than 10 doses,recurrent severe bleeding progressed to refractory shock, multiorgan failure and death. Conclusions: Little can be concluded from single case reports of clinical improvement, because publication bias in favour of positive effects is likely. Our case suggests that rFVIIa is not a panacea, in particular for severe bleeding after bone-marrow transplantation. As long as rigorous, controlled studies or comprehensive registries are lacking, conventional interventions remain the standard of care in non-haermophilic patients with severe bleeding. © 2006 Eller et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.