Wanko, S.O., Broadwater, G., Folz, R.J., & Chao, N.J. (2006). Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage: Retrospective review of clinical outcome in allogeneic transplant recipients treated with aminocaproic acid. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 12, 949–953.
 

DOI Link

Intervention Characteristics/Basic Study Process

Fourteen allogeneic patients with 15 episodes of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) were treated with Solu-Medrol®; eight of these patients also received aminocaproic acid 1,000 mg IV every six hours.
 

Sample Characteristics

  • MEDIAN AGE = 41 years
  • OTHER KEY SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS: Patients who have undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; time to DAH from transplant was 40.5 days (range: 11–177 days); failure to improve was the most common reason for adding aminocaproic acid.
     

Study Design

  • Retrospective study

Measurement Instruments/Methods

  • 100-day mortality
  • Median transplant survival
     

Results

Overall 100-day survival was 60%, and the median transplantation survival was 99 days. Patients treated with aminocaproic acid improved to a 100-day mortality of 44% and 167-day median transplant survival, compared to those not treated with aminocaproic acid with an 83% 100-day mortality and 96.5-day median transplant survival.

Limitations

  • Respiratory failure cause of death in 89%
  • Median coagulation parameters were near normal; range with no difference in the two groups
  • Small sample size
  • Retrospective in nature