BACKGROUND Plasma stored refrigerated for up to 5 days after thawing is common practice in many US hospitals. Therefore, clotting factor activities in fresh‐frozen plasma (FFP), plasma frozen within 24 hours (PF24), and solvent/detergent‐treated plasma (SDP), thawed and stored at 1 to 6°C for up to 5 days, were investigated. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Five A, B, O, and AB units of FFP, PF24, and SDP were thawed and maintained for 5 days at 1 to 6°C. The activity of factor (F)V, FVII, FVIII, protein S (PS), and ADAMTS13 was determined in each unit at baseline and every 24 hours thereafter for 5 days. RESULTS After thaw, mean values of the variables tested were within the normal range in all three plasma products although, in SDP, FVIII activity was significantly lower (p = 0.0039). After 5 days of storage all factors significantly declined except for ADAMTS13 activity, which was stable. Mean FVIII and ADAMTS13 activity was comparable in all three plasma products and within the normal range, mean FV activity was significantly lower in FFP and PF24 (p<0.0001) compared to SDP, and mean FVII activity was significantly lower in PF24 (p<0.03) than in FFP or SDP. Mean PS activity was below the normal range in all three plasma products with the lowest values in SDP (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION Over 5 days of refrigerated storage the changes in the measured coagulation factors in FFP, PF24, and SDP are comparable. Clinical follow‐up is needed to assess whether slightly lower PS levels in SDP are clinically important.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy is commonly used to treat patients with primary antibody deficiency. This prospective, open-label, non-randomised, multicentre, phase III trial investigated the pharmacokinetics of a new 10% liquid IVIG product (panzyga®; Octapharma) in 51 patients aged 2-75 years with common variable immunodeficiency (n = 43) or X-linked agammaglobulinaemia (n = 8). Patients were treated with IVIG 10% every 3 (n = 21) or 4 weeks (n = 30) at a dose of 200-800 mg/kg for 12 months. Total immunoglobulin G (IgG) and subclass concentrations approximately doubled from pre- to 15 min post-infusion. The maximum concentration of total IgG (mean ± SD) was 21.82 ± 5.83 g/L in patients treated 3-weekly and 17.42 ± 3.34 g/L in patients treated 4-weekly. Median trough IgG concentrations were nearly constant over the course of the study, remaining between 11.0 and 12.2 g/L for patients on the 3-week schedule and between 8.10 and 8.65 g/L for patients on the 4-week schedule. The median terminal half-life of total IgG was 36.1 (range 18.5-65.9) days, with generally similar values for the IgG subclasses (26.7-38.0 days). Median half-lives for specific antibodies ranged between 21.3 and 51.2 days for anti-cytomegalovirus, anti-Haemophilus influenzae, anti-measles, anti-tetanus toxoid, anti-varicella zoster virus antibodies, and anti-Streptococcus pneumoniae subtype antibodies. Overall, IVIG 10% demonstrated pharmacokinetic properties similar to those of other commercial IVIG 10% preparations and 3- or 4-weekly administration achieved sufficient concentrations of IgG, IgG subclasses, and specific antibodies, exceeding the recommended level needed to effectively prevent serious bacterial infections.

To enable rapid availability of plasma in emergency situations, the shelf-life of thawed fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) has been extended from 24 h to 5 days. The aim of this study was to evaluate the thrombin generation (TG) potential and clot-forming ability during 5 days of refrigerated storage of thawed FFP, plasma frozen within 24 h and solvent/detergent-treated plasma octaplasLG . During storage for 5 days, TG capacity decreased significantly over time, and rotational thromboelastometry showed significantly prolonged clotting times. However, the stability studies confirmed comparable in vitro haemostatic potentials of all three thawed plasma products at day 5.

The nonactivated prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) Octaplex (Octapharma PPGmbH, Vienna, Austria) has been used successfully for the treatment of congenital and acquired coagulation factor deficiencies and associated bleeding. The aims of this study were to assess retrospectively whether Octaplex is an effective treatment option for haemophilia A patients with high-titre inhibitors of factor VIII (FVIII) and to investigate the impact of Octaplex on thrombin generation in vitro and ex vivo. Retrospective data were collected from 15 haemophilia A patients with FVIII inhibitors who had been treated with Octaplex. Mild bleeds were treated for a median of 1 day with a median dose of 77 IU/kg and moderate bleeds for 3 days with 57 IU/kg. The physician's overall satisfaction with Octaplex, taking into account efficacy, safety and cost in comparison with other treatment options, was assessed for each bleed. The overall rating was good, very good or excellent for 29 of 41 (71%) bleeds. No adverse drug reactions were reported. In in-vitro studies of thrombin generation with normal plasma samples, experimental inhibition of FVIII activity prolonged the lag phase, diminished the peak thrombin concentration and decreased the area under the concentration-time curve, as expected. Marked improvement in thrombin generation parameters was achieved by adding 0.5-3 IU factor IX/ml PCC into the samples. The same held true when using plasma samples from haemophilia A patients with FVIII inhibitors. These results demonstrate that Octaplex overcomes inhibition of FVIII in in-vitro and ex-vivo assays of thrombin generation, and that Octaplex is an effective treatment option for haemophilia A patients with FVIII inhibitors.