Efficacy and safety of prophylactic treatment with plasma-derived factor XIII concentrate (human) in patients with congenital factor XIII deficiency

Abstract

Congenital factor XIII (FXIII) deficiency is an extremely rare, potentially life-threatening bleeding disorder. Routine prophylactic management is recommended for individuals with clinically relevant FXIII deficiency. This prospective, multicentre, open-label study evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of prophylactic infusions of FXIII concentrate (human) 40 IU kg -1 in patients with congenital FXIII deficiency. FXIII concentrate (human) was administered every 4 weeks for 12 months. Dosing was adjusted to maintain trough FXIII activity levels of 5-20%. Logistical and ethical constraints precluded use of a placebo control group. Annualized incidence of spontaneous bleeding was compared with historical rates; safety was assessed as a secondary objective. Forty-one patients were enrolled and completed the study. The annualized rate for spontaneous bleeding episodes requiring FXIII treatment was 0.000 episodes per patient-year (95% CI: 0.000; 0.097). The study met its primary endpoint: the upper limit of the 95% CI was substantially below the historical rate of 2.5 bleeding episodes per patient-year. Five spontaneous bleeding episodes (involving three patients; none requiring FXIII treatment) and eight trauma-related bleeding episodes (two requiring FXIII treatment) occurred. Five patients had surgery during the study, only one of whom required FXIII treatment for post-surgical bleeding. Most patients (≥85%) had trough FXIII activity levels ≥10%. No patient discontinued treatment due to an adverse event. No adverse events related to thromboembolism or viral transmission were reported. Prophylactic treatment with FXIII concentrate (human) was well tolerated and prevented spontaneous bleeding episodes that were serious enough to require treatment with FXIII-containing product. Clinical trial registration:www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00885742.