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Warrell DA, Williams DJ. Clinical aspects of snakebite envenoming and its treatment in low-resource settings. Lancet 2023; 401:1382-1398. [PMID: 36931290 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(23)00002-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 11/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/18/2022] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
There is increasing recognition of the public health importance of snakebite envenoming. Worldwide annual incidence is likely to be 5 million bites, with mortality exceeding 150 000 deaths, and the resulting physical and psychological morbidity leads to substantial social and economic repercussions. Prevention through community education by trained health workers is the most effective and economically viable strategy for reducing risk of bites and envenoming. Clinical challenges to effective treatment are most substantial in rural areas of low-resource settings, where snakebites are most common. Classic skills of history taking, physical examination, and use of affordable point-of-care tests should be followed by monitoring of evolving local and systemic envenoming. Despite the profusion of new ideas for interventions, hyperimmune equine or ovine plasma-derived antivenoms remain the only specific treatment for snakebite envenoming. The enormous interspecies and intraspecies complexity and diversity of snake venoms, revealed by modern venomics, demands a radical redesign of many current antivenoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Warrell
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Experimental Medicine Division, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, UK.
| | - David J Williams
- Regulation and Prequalification Department, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
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Mancini I, Agosti P, Boscarino M, Ferrari B, Artoni A, Palla R, Spreafico M, Crovetti G, Volpato E, Rossini S, Novelli C, Gattillo S, Barcella L, Salmoiraghi M, Falanga A, Peyvandi F. Lombardy diagnostic and therapeutic network of thrombotic microangiopathy. Orphanet J Rare Dis 2022; 17:246. [PMID: 35739601 PMCID: PMC9229100 DOI: 10.1186/s13023-022-02400-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare, life-threatening thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) requiring urgent treatment. Standardization of its diagnosis and optimal management is challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the role of centralized, rapid testing of ADAMTS13 in patients experiencing acute TMAs requiring plasma-exchange (PEX) and to estimate the incidence of TTP in a large Italian Region. Methods We perfomed a cohort study in the frame of the project “Set-up of a Lombardy network for the study and treatment of patients undergoing apheresis”, including 11 transfusion centers in the Region. Consecutive patients referred from 2014 to 2016 with acute TMAs requiring PEX were enrolled. Centralized ADAMTS13 activity testing was performed at the Milan Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center within 24 h. Results Forty-three TMA patients (44 events) were enrolled, of whom 35 (81%) had severe ADAMTS13 deficiency. Patients with severe ADAMTS13 deficiency were younger, mainly women, with a higher prevalence of autoimmune disorders and a lower prevalence of cancer. Clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with and without severe ADAMTS13 deficiency largely overlapped, with a lower platelet count being the only baseline marker that significantly differed between the two patient groups (ADAMTS13 activity < 10% vs ≥ 10%: median difference of -27 × 109/l, 95% CI − 37 to − 3). PEX treatment was initiated in all patients, but soon discontinued in cases without severe ADAMTS13 deficiency. In this group, the mortality rate was higher and no episode exacerbations or relapses within 6 months occured. The estimated average annual incidence of acute acquired TTP events was 1.17 [0.78–1.55] per million people. Conclusions Severe ADAMTS13 deficiency distinguished two groups of patients with largely overlapping clinical features but different treatment and disease course. This study provides a feasible model implemented in a large Italian region for the practical clinical approach to TMAs and underlines the importance of urgent ADAMTS13 activity testing for an accurate differential diagnosis and therapeutic approach. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13023-022-02400-y.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Mancini
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università Degli Studi Di Milano, and Fondazione Luigi Villa, Via Pace 9, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - P Agosti
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università Degli Studi Di Milano, and Fondazione Luigi Villa, Via Pace 9, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - M Boscarino
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università Degli Studi Di Milano, and Fondazione Luigi Villa, Via Pace 9, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - B Ferrari
- Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, Milan, Italy
| | - A Artoni
- Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, Milan, Italy
| | - R Palla
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università Degli Studi Di Milano, and Fondazione Luigi Villa, Via Pace 9, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - M Spreafico
- Transfusion Medicine and Haematology Department, "A. Manzoni" Hospital, ASST-Lecco, Lecco, Italy
| | - G Crovetti
- SIMT, ASST Valle Olona, Busto Arsizio, Italy
| | - E Volpato
- Division of Immunohaematology and Transfusion Medicine, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - S Rossini
- Division of Immunohaematology and Transfusion Medicine, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - C Novelli
- Transfusion Center and Haematology Laboratory, Legnano Hospital, ASST Ovest Milanese, Legnano, Italy
| | - S Gattillo
- Immuno-Hematology and Transfusion Medicine Unit, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - L Barcella
- Immunohematology Division, Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy
| | - M Salmoiraghi
- Unità Organizzativa Programmazione Della DG Welfare, Unità Organizzativa Programmazione Della DG Welfare Regione Lombardia, Regione Lombardia, Milan, Italy
| | - A Falanga
- Immunohematology Division, Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy.,Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - F Peyvandi
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, Università Degli Studi Di Milano, and Fondazione Luigi Villa, Via Pace 9, 20122, Milan, Italy. .,Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, Milan, Italy.
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Lemiale V, Valade S, Mariotte E. Unresponsive Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP): Challenges and Solutions. Ther Clin Risk Manag 2021; 17:577-587. [PMID: 34113115 PMCID: PMC8185636 DOI: 10.2147/tcrm.s205632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a thrombotic microangiopathy secondary to a severely decreased A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease with ThromboSpondin type 1 repeats 13 (ADAMTS13) activity, resulting in the formation of widespread von Willebrand factor - and platelet-rich microthrombi. ADAMTS13 deficiency is mainly acquired through anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies in adults. With modern standards of care, unresponsive TTP has become rarer with a frequency of refractory/relapsing forms dropping from >40% to <10%. As patients with unresponsive TTP are at increased risk of mortality, prompt recognition and early therapeutic intensification are mandatory. Therapeutic options at the disposal of clinicians caring for patients with refractory TTP consist of increased ADAMTS13 supplementation, increased immunosuppression, and inhibition of von Willebrand factor adhesion to platelets. In this work, we focus on possible therapies for the management of patients with unresponsive TTP, and propose an algorithm for the management of these difficult cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginie Lemiale
- Medical Intensive Care Unit, Saint Louis University Hospital, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Sandrine Valade
- Medical Intensive Care Unit, Saint Louis University Hospital, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Eric Mariotte
- Medical Intensive Care Unit, Saint Louis University Hospital, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France
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