High dose of intravenous antithrombin III without heparin in the treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation and organ failure in four children

Diagnostic Scores and Treatment Options for Acute Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation in Children

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a thrombo-hemorrhagic condition that commonly accompanies life-threatening illnesses in children and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Treatment of underlying conditions, hemodynamic support, and replacement therapy with blood components is the mainstay of DIC management. Limited research studies have supported the use of antithrombin (AT), recombinant thrombomodulin (rTM), and protein C concentrates (PrCC). Although there have been several studies and advancements in the DIC treatment in adults, data in pediatric patients are limited, and the consensus is lacking. Evidence validating the use of diagnostic scoring systems in the pediatric population is also limited. Since the hemostatic system differs significantly in children, especially in neonates, management of DIC is also different in children from that of adults, and there is a dire need for good quality research studies in this aspect.

We reviewed more than 100 articles in PubMed, Cochrane database, and Google Scholar. This traditional review article discusses different scoring systems for diagnosing DIC in pediatric patients, and different pharmacological treatment options for acute DIC in this population. This study mainly focuses on papers published from 1990 to 2021 and includes papers in all languages involving humans only.

Use and Future Investigations of Recombinant and Plasma-Derived Coagulation and Anticoagulant Products in the Neonate

Although congenital bleeding disorders can manifest in the newborn period, the most common causes of bleeding and thrombosis in neonates are acquired conditions. Factor concentrates are used for specific diagnoses (hemophilia with inhibitors, specific factor deficiency, von Willebrand disease) and approved indications, and increasingly for off-label indications (bleeding in surgery cardiopulmonary bypass, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). We will review the approved indications for factor products in the neonate and discuss the evidence and rationale for off-label use of factor products in management of bleeding and thrombosis in the neonate.

Pediatric hemostasis and use of plasma components

Indications for fresh frozen plasma (FFP), once used routinely in the support of critically ill infants and children, have become more specific as evolving evidence has confirmed or disproved the efficacy of plasma in various circumstances. FFP is currently indicated to treat the coagulopathies of massive hemorrhage, liver failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation and sepsis. Whole blood reconstituted from FFP and packed red cells is the product of choice for exchange transfusion, as well as for circuit priming. In the US, FFP remains the only approved source of factors V, XI, protein C, protein S and plasminogen. Cryoprecipitate is used chiefly as a source of fibrinogen, factor VIII and factor XIII in consumptive coagulopathy; recombinant or viral inactivated plasma derivatives are preferred for congenital deficiencies of factor VIII and von Willebrand factor. Recombinant and highly purified, viral inactivated, plasma-derived proteins are preferred over FFP for congenital and acquired deficiencies. This chapter reviews evidence to support the use of plasma and plasma derivatives for pediatric patients.

Hematologic abnormalities in severe neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis: 25 years later

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), the most common surgical emergency in newborns, remains a therapeutic challenge for clinicians. The hematological manifestations associated with NEC were first described 25 years ago. This review discusses current knowledge of the pathophysiology involved in disturbances in megakaryocytopoiesis, coagulation, leukopoiesis, and erythropoiesis that accompany the clinical entity NEC. The discussion includes current understanding of and potential strategies for treating the hematopoietic disturbances that occur secondary to NEC.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation: clinical and laboratory aspects

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a complex acquired coagulopathy resulting from excessive thrombin formation. Abnormal tissue factor (TF) expression is a major mechanism initiating DIC in many disorders, including obstetrical complications, sepsis, cancer, and trauma. Numerous laboratory tests are available to monitor DIC, but most patients are adequately managed using only routine hemostasis screening tests, and assays for fibrinogen and D-dimer. Treatment of DIC should focus on reversing the underlying disorder initiating the coagulopathy. Novel treatments are being investigated for treating DIC; many of these experimental modalities target the excessive TF activity that characterizes DIC.

Transgenically Produced Human Antithrombin: Structural and Functional Comparison to Human Plasma–Derived Antithrombin

Recombinant human antithrombin (rhAT) produced in transgenic goat milk was purified to greater than 99%. The specific activity of the rhAT was identical to human plasma–derived AT (phAT) in an in vitro thrombin inhibition assay. However, rhAT had a fourfold higher affinity for heparin than phAT. The rhAT was analyzed and compared with phAT by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography, circular dichroism, fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE), amino acid sequence, and liquid chromatography/mass spectrography peptide mapping. Based on these analyses, rhAT was determined to be structurally identical to phAT except for differences in glycosylation. Oligomannose structures were found on the Asn 155 site of the transgenic protein, whereas only complex structures were observed on the plasma protein. RhAT contained a GalNAc for galactose substitution on some N-linked oligosaccharides, as well as a high degree of fucosylation. RhAT was less sialylated than phAT and contained both N-acetylneuraminic and N-glycolylneuraminic acid. We postulate that the increase in affinity for heparin found with rhAT resulted from the presence of oligomannose-type structures on the Asn 155 glycosylation site and differences in sialylation.

Transgenically Produced Human Antithrombin: Structural and Functional Comparison to Human Plasma–Derived Antithrombin

Recombinant human antithrombin (rhAT) produced in transgenic goat milk was purified to greater than 99%. The specific activity of the rhAT was identical to human plasma–derived AT (phAT) in an in vitro thrombin inhibition assay. However, rhAT had a fourfold higher affinity for heparin than phAT. The rhAT was analyzed and compared with phAT by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography, circular dichroism, fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE), amino acid sequence, and liquid chromatography/mass spectrography peptide mapping. Based on these analyses, rhAT was determined to be structurally identical to phAT except for differences in glycosylation. Oligomannose structures were found on the Asn 155 site of the transgenic protein, whereas only complex structures were observed on the plasma protein. RhAT contained a GalNAc for galactose substitution on some N-linked oligosaccharides, as well as a high degree of fucosylation. RhAT was less sialylated than phAT and contained both N-acetylneuraminic and N-glycolylneuraminic acid. We postulate that the increase in affinity for heparin found with rhAT resulted from the presence of oligomannose-type structures on the Asn 155 glycosylation site and differences in sialylation.