Skip Navigation
Department of Health and Human Services www.hhs.gov
 
Slide Tray
0 slides

Return to Slide Library

Slides

Add Search Results to Slide Tray Search:

"recombinant factor VIIa"

Slides: 1–12 of 36
Comparative Effectiveness of Recombinant Factor VIIa for Off-Label Uses vs. Usual Care in the Hospital SettingThis slide set is based on the research presented in a comparative effectiveness review (CER) , Comparative Effectiveness of In-Hospital Use of Recombinant Factor VIIa for Off-Label Indications vs. Usual Care, that was developed by the Stanford-UCSF Evidence-based Practice Center for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD (Contract No. 290-02-0017) and is available online at effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov. The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s), who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. Therefore, no statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The information presented here is intended to help health care decisionmakers—clinicians, health system leaders, and policymakers, among others—make well-informed decisions and thereby improve the quality of health care services. This information is not intended to be a substitute for the application of clinical judgment. Anyone who makes decisions concerning the provision of clinical care should consider this report in the same way as any medical reference and in conjunction with all other pertinent information, that is, in the context of available resources and circumstances presented by individual patients. CERs represent systematic reviews of the literature and usually compare two or more types of treatments, such as different drugs, devices, or procedures, for the same disease. The talk will cover data collected from the Perspective Comparative Database of Premier, Inc., in Charlotte, NC (2000 to 2008), as well as the current evidence from 10 electronic databases, grey literature, trial registries, and reference lists that were searched. Finally, the manufacturer’s web site and files supplied by the manufacturer of rFVIIa (Novo Nordisk) were reviewed, bibliographies of identified meta-analyses and systematic reviews were searched, and experts in the field were contacted to uncover studies not already identified by these searches. The methods used to develop this CER followed version 1.0 of the Methods Reference Guide for Effectiveness and Comparative Effectiveness Reviews published by AHRQ (draft available at: http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/repFiles/2007_10DraftMethodsGuide.pdf).
The Coagulation Cascade: rFVIIa Mechanism of Action
Recombinant activated factor VII is a form of human factor VII produced by recombinant technology. The molecule is 406 amino acids in length and has a molecular weight of 50 kDa. As a protein-based therapy, it must be given intravenously to facilitate coagulation at sites of bleeding and has a half-life of 2.5 hours. This intravenously delivered product works as a potent procoagulant by effectively bypassing parts of the clotting process normally required for clotting. rFVIIa helps to promote clotting in two ways:

At physiologic levels and in association with tissue factor (e.g., on damaged tissue), it activates factors IX and X to initiate the clotting leading to formation of a thrombin plug, which allows for clot stability. This normal physiological mechanism suggests that rFVIIa activity is targeted to areas of tissue damage.
In pharmacological doses, it also binds to activated platelets and drives the process of thrombin clot formation forward via factor X activation, even in the absence of tissue factor. This mechanism is relatively specific to areas of tissue damage.

These mechanisms effectively bypass portions of the clotting process that are normally required for clotting to occur. Thus, clotting can occur despite factor deficiencies (in factors VII, VIII, IX, and XI) or when the number or function of platelets is reduced. It can facilitate control of bleeding in situations where standard human blood product transfusions have failed.
While mainly used for hemophilia and related conditions, off-label use of rFVIIa has increased in the hospital setting. Practice patterns have outstripped available evidence as rFVIIa off-label use has transitioned from extraordinarily infrequent use to more common application.
Framework for Analyzing Outcomes of Off-Label rFVIIa Use in the Hospital SettingThis slide delineates the analytic framework for evaluating the off-label use of rFVIIa for the CER titled Comparative Effectiveness of Recombinant Factor VIIa for Off-Label Indications vs. Usual Care. The figure represents the trajectory of a patient who receives rFVIIa at some point during inpatient medical care. The first possible time of drug administration is in the case of prophylactic use (to limit blood loss) during a potentially bloody surgery, such as liver transplantation or cardiac surgery. The second possible time of drug administration is in the case of treatment use, which occurs as an attempt to arrest ongoing bleeding and is employed in numerous clinical scenarios, including intracranial hemorrhage and trauma. The final possible time of drug administration is in the case of end-stage use, as a last-ditch effort to salvage a patient who is dying from massive hemorrhage. Repeat doses of rFVIIa are possible during any of the above applications. Thick horizontal arrows near the top of the figure represent the overlap between the clinical questions addressed in the CER and the different types of rFVIIa use described above. For example, the bar representing the overall use of rFVIIa spans the entire range of potential uses—prophylaxis, treatment, and end-stage—whereas the bar representing the off-label indication of intracranial hemorrhage encompasses only treatment use.
Clinical Questions Addressed by the Comparative Effectiveness Review
The report titled, Comparative Effectiveness of In-Hospital Use of Recombinant Factor VIIa for Off-Label Indications vs. Usual Care, addressed the following clinical questions: (1) From an overview of real-world patterns of rFVIIa use and available comparative studies, which clinical populations are receiving off-label rFVIIa and which populations have been scientifically examined, and what are the characteristics of comparative studies evaluating off-label rFVIIa use?; and (2) What are the benefits and harms of using rFVIIa for selected off-label indications in patients with/undergoing: spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage, acquired coagulopathic massive bleeding from body trauma, bleeding from brain trauma, adult cardiac surgery, pediatric cardiac surgery, liver transplantation, or prostatectomy?
Outcomes of Interest for Off-Label rFVIIa Use in the Hospital SettingThis slide lists examples of potential outcomes of rFVIIa use. These encompass a range, from indirect outcomes—of process/resource use or intermediate/surrogate outcomes (which are perhaps the easiest to measure but are not always closely connected to patient status)—to direct clinical endpoints such as death, adverse events, or functional status (which are the most relevant to patient well-being but are often more difficult to measure or occur less frequently than the other outcomes). Ideally, the CER would focus primarily on direct clinical outcomes for each of the clinical research questions, but this is not always possible given that the studies and other data sources may only report indirect outcome measures or have few events of this type.
Four Domains Used To Assess Relevant Studies
The following four major domains were examined: risk of bias (low, medium, high), consistency (no inconsistency, inconsistency present, unknown, or not applicable), directness (direct, indirect), and precision (precise, imprecise). Each key outcome on each comparison of interest was given an overall evidence grade based on the ratings for the individual domains.
Pages: [1] 2 3 Next