Minimally Prolonged PT: Solution

Referring to our post of August 10, 2018 entitled Minimally Prolonged PT, Dr. Laposata reviewed the patient’s consistently, though slightly prolonged, PT results, and considered a factor VII deficiency. It turns out the patient’s factor VII level was 40%, found also in some first-degree relatives. It may not be that a factor VII level of 40% is alone associated with intracranial hemorrhage, however the use of frozen plasma, which provides minimal factor VII, may have been a contributing factor. Discussion included the pros and cons of using recombinant activated factor VII concentrate, (rFVIIa, NovoSeven) instead of plasma with no firm agreement.