Outcomes after administration of drotrecogin alfa in patients with severe sepsis at an urban safety net hospital.

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Aryan J. Rahbar, University Medical Center of Southern Nevada; Marina Rabinovich, Emory University; Prasad Abraham, Emory University; Eric G Honig, Emory University; Greg Martin, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2012
• Publisher: JMRP
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: AP runs a strict open access policy delivering serials to all readers to view, download, copy and distribute articles free of charge.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.academypublish.org/journal/issue/title/journal-of-medical-research-and-science/volume/2/number/1
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Medical Research and Practice
• ISSN: 2162-6391
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 7
• End Page: 12

Abstract

Drotrecogin alfa was introduced in 2001 as a treatment for severe sepsis following the results of the PROWESS trial; however, in October of 2011 drotrecogin alfa was re moved worldwide due to a lack of survival benefit demonstrated in the PROWESS-SHOCK trial. There is limited literature describing the outcomes seen outside of the controlled research environment with drotrecogin alfa. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the outcomes of patients treated with drotrecogin alfa in clinical practice at an urban safety net hospital. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on all patients that received drotrecogin alfa from January 2002 to April 2008. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality in all patients. Baseline patient characteristics and 28-day mortality were compared to those found in the PROWESS trial. Results: In the current study, 59.5% expired before 28 days which was significantly higher than the 24.7% mortality rate found in PROWESS (p < 0.0001). However, patients in the current study were more ill than those found in PROWESS as shown by the average APACHE II score in the current study being 28.2 versus 24.6 in PROWESS (p < 0.0001). Patients with HIV had the highest 28-day mortality rate of 77% while patients that were obese had the lowest 28-day mortality rate of 33.3%. Conclusions: Patients treated with drotrecogin alfa in clinical practice tended to have a higher mortality rate than those patients treated in the PROWESS study. However, patients in the current study tended to be more ill than those in PROWESS.