[Isolated acquired factor VII deficiency in patient with severe head trauma: use of factor VII (factor VII-LFB]

Factor VII Deficiency: From Basics to Clinical Laboratory Diagnosis and Patient Management

Factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare inheritable bleeding disorder affecting 1/500 000 individuals. Clinical manifestations are heterogeneous, from asymptomatic to severe and potentially fatal bleeding. These clinical manifestations do not correlate well with FVII plasma levels. For this reason, FVII-deficient patient management during surgery or for long-term prophylaxis remains challenging. Laboratory testing for FVII activity is, however, the first-line method for FVII deficiency diagnosis and is helpful for managing patients in combination with clinical history. Additional testing consists of FVII immunoassay and genetic testing. Genetic abnormalities on the FVII gene are heterogeneous and can translate into quantitative or qualitative defects. Some of the latter can react differently with different thromboplastins; this can be misleading for the laboratory as no consensus exists at present on an FVII deficiency diagnosis methodology. Indeed, no single test is able to predict accurately the bleeding risk. This review provides a broad picture of inherited and acquired FVII deficiency with a particular focus on laboratory diagnosis.

Acquired Isolated FVII Deficiency

Objective:

To investigate all cases of isolated factor VII (FVII) deficiency as gathered from personal files or by a PubMed search.

Patients and Methods:

Personal files dealing with patients studied in Padua during the years 1970 to 2010 were reevaluated. The PubMed search was time unlimited and was carried on 2 occasions during 2014. Cross-checking of the references, listed in every article, was also carried out to avoid omissions. Inclusion criteria were isolated FVII defect of less than 40% of normal, negative coagulation pattern in the family, normal level of other vitamin K-dependent clotting factors, and normalization of the clotting factor after the therapeutic procedures, unless the patient died.

Results:

Twenty-nine patients met the inclusion criteria (18 male and 9 female, in 2 cases gender was unreported). This number included 1 personal case. Mean age was 37.9 (range 3-80). Underlying diseases were the following: neoplasia, infections, polytrauma, penicillin administration, nephrotic syndrome Wiskott Aldrich syndrome, and left heart failure (1 case, each); 2 patients had no underlying disease. Bleeding was variable but usually mild. There were 11 fatalities.

Conclusions:

Isolated FVII deficiency is a rare defect, which appears to be a finding associated with several morbid conditions, especially sepsis and tumors. This indicates the need for a careful investigation of even a mild prolongation of prothrombin time, especially when fibrinogen and partial thromboplastin time are normal.

Isolated acquired factor VII deficiency: review of the literature

OBJECTIVES

Isolated acquired factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare haemorrhagic disorder. We report what is currently known about the pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of acquired FVII deficiency.

METHODS

We performed a literature search and included all articles published between 1980 and August 2015.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Acquired FVII deficiency has been reported in 42 patients. There are well-established clinical diseases associated with acquired FVII deficiency, most notably infections, malignancy and haematological stem cell transplantation. The exact pathogenesis of the diseases is still unknown, but different pathophysiological hypotheses have been suggested. The clinical manifestation of acquired FVII deficiency varies greatly in severity; asymptomatic course as well as severe life-threatening bleeding diathesis and fatal bleedings have been described.

Hémorragie sous-arachnoïdienne par rupture d'anévrisme et déficit en facteur VII, à propos d'un cas

The management of subarachnoid haemorrhage by aneurysm rupture is well codified. Some rare cases can be problematical. We report a case of a patient suffering from factor VII (FVII) deficiency who presented a subarachnoid haemorrhage by sylvian aneurysm rupture. The bleeding risk was prevented by plasmatic factor VII substitution and aneurysm coiling. Anticoagulation in order to prevent from thromboembolic risk after embolisation was started for 36 hours, associated with plasmatic FVII substitution (with an objective of plasmatic FVII rate of 30%). After this stage at high thromboembolic risk, there has been no shift to platelet antiaggregants and FVII substitution was stopped. The outcome at 1 month was propitious without any bleeding nor arterial thrombosis.