Blood-Clotting Drug Treats Hemorrhagic Stroke

A phase II study has revealed that if a blood-clotting drug is given intravenously within four hours of onset in patients with hemorrhagic stroke, the drug can reduce the growth of hematoma and thereby limit the amount of damage to brain tissue. The results were presented at the 5th World Stroke Congress in Vancouver (Canada) in June 2004.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) occurs when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and blood spills into the brain. The brain tissue dies at the area of the ICH, but blood can also clot, causing a hematoma. The hematoma puts pressure on the surrounding tissues in the brain, causing additional damage and disability to the patient.

The worldwide study involved 400 patients in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that compared placebo with three doses of a drug used to treat bleeding in patients with hemophilia. By traveling to the ICH site, the drug reaches ruptured vessels in the brain without invasive surgery and can accelerate the coagulation process from within. The trial results showed that patients treated with the drug had significantly improved neurologic and functional outcomes. The drug, called NovoSeven (recombinant Factor VIIa, rFVIIa), is the product of Novo Nordisk (Bagsvaerd, Denmark).

"This trial data, which suggests the historical lack of recognized treatment for ICH may soon be at an end, will be welcomed worldwide,” noted Dr. Stephan Mayer, associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery, Columbia University (New York, NY, USA). "This could benefit many thousands of lives a year.”





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