Dtsch Med Wochenschr
November 2024
100 years ago Dr. Eli Moschcowitz described the first case of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. For many decades there were no recognized treatment options, and the mortality rate was extremely high.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recombinant porcine factor VIII (rpFVIII; susoctocog alfa) is indicated for the treatment of bleeding events (BEs) in adults with acquired hemophilia A (AHA).
Objectives: To assess the safety, utilization, and effectiveness of rpFVIII in clinical practice.
Design: EU post-authorization safety study (PASS) (NCT03199794) was a multicenter, noninterventional, post-authorization safety study conducted in adults with AHA.
Immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) is a rare, life-threatening autoimmune disorder caused by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13) deficiency. Caplacizumab, an anti-von Willebrand factor nanobody, is approved for iTTP treatment, reducing the need for therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) and improving platelet count recovery and survival. We conducted a retrospective study on 42 acute iTTP cases in Austria and Germany, treated with a modified regimen aimed at avoiding TPE if platelet count increased after the first caplacizumab dose.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acquired haemophilia A is caused by neutralising autoantibodies against coagulation factor VIII, leading to severe bleeding. Standard treatment involves immunosuppressive therapy, which is associated with adverse events and mortality in the frail population of patients with acquired haemophilia A. This study investigated whether emicizumab, a factor VIIIa mimetic antibody, protects patients with acquired haemophilia A from bleeding and allows deferral of immunosuppression during the first 12 weeks after diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcquired haemophilia A (AHA) is an autoimmune bleeding disorder caused by autoantibodies blocking coagulation factor VIII (FVIII). Haemostatic management of AHA and concomitant thrombotic risk is difficult. We cover the management of a 75-year-old male with severe Covid-19, a prothrombotic disease, and de novo AHA with severe muscle bleeding, a disease requiring highly thrombogenic haemostatic therapy and immunosuppression-a challenging combination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Caplacizumab demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) in the phase 3 HERCULES trial. However, data on long-term outcomes following caplacizumab treatment are limited.
Objectives: The post-HERCULES trial (NCT02878603) evaluated long-term outcomes of patients with iTTP treated with caplacizumab in HERCULES and safety and efficacy of repeated caplacizumab use.
The root cause of autoantibody formation against factor VIII (FVIII) in acquired hemophilia A (AHA) remains unclear. We aimed to assess whether AHA is exclusively associated with autoantibodies toward FVIII or whether patients also produce increased levels of autoantibodies against other targets. A case-control study was performed enrolling patients with AHA and age-matched controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, with an inherent requirement for anticoagulation to avoid circuit thrombosis, is a key element in the treatment of respiratory failure associated with COVID-19. Anticoagulation remains challenging, the standard of care being intravenous continuous administration of unfractionated heparin. Yet regimens vary.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The anti-von Willebrand factor (VWF) nanobody caplacizumab directly prevents the fatal microthrombi formation in immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP), thereby adding a new therapeutic principle to the treatment of this disorder. However, real-world treatment modalities beyond clinical trials remain heterogeneous.
Methods: Here, we describe the risks and benefits of an alternate-day dosing regimen for caplacizumab by thoroughly analyzing the timing and outcome of this approach in a retrospective cohort of 25 iTTP patients treated with caplacizumab at seven different medical centers in Austria and Germany between 2018 and 2021.
During progression of myeloid neoplasms, the basophil compartment may expand substantially and in some of these patients, a basophilic leukemia is diagnosed. In patients with Ph-chromosome+ chronic myeloid leukemia, acceleration of disease is typically accompanied by marked basophilia. In other myeloid neoplasms, secondary leukemic expansion of basophils is rarely seen.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation provides large surface exposure to human blood leading to coagulation activation. Only limited clinical data are available on contact activation and coagulation factor XII activity in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Cases of unusual thrombosis and thrombocytopenia after administration of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (AstraZeneca) have been reported. The term vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT) was coined to reflect this new phenomenon. In vitro experiments with VIPIT patient sera indicated that high-dose intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) competitively inhibit the platelet-activating properties of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine induced antibodies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly during the course of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, reports suggested alarmingly high incidences for thromboembolic events in critically ill patients with COVID-19. However, the clinical relevance of these events was not reported in several studies. Additionally, more recent research showed contradictory results and suggested substantially lower rates of venous thromboembolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHereditary thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (hTTP) is a rare thrombotic microangiopathy characterized by severe congenital ADAMTS13 deficiency and recurring acute episodes causing morbidity and premature death. Information on the annual incidence and severity of acute episodes in patients with hTTP is largely lacking. This study reports prospective data on 87 patients from the Hereditary TTP Registry (clinicaltrials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmicizumab is currently approved to prevent bleeding in patients with congenital hemophilia A with or without neutralizing antibodies (inhibitors) against factor VIII (FVIII). Here, we present a case-based discussion of its potential use in acquired hemophilia A (AHA), a severe bleeding disorder caused by autoantibodies against FVIII. State-of-the-art management is based on bypassing agents (recombinant factor VIIa, activated prothrombin complex concentrate) and recombinant porcine FVIII; immunosuppressive therapy (corticosteroids, rituximab, cyclophosphamide) is used to suppress autoantibody formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP) is a rare, life-threatening autoimmune thrombotic microangiopathy. Current standard of care is therapeutic plasma exchange, immunosuppression, and caplacizumab, an anti-von Willebrand factor nanobody, which is effective in treating aTTP episodes.
Patients/methods: Here we report on seven episodes of aTTP treated without plasma exchange in six female patients in Germany and Austria.