Postmarketing Surveillance of Recombinant Human Soluble Thrombomodulin (Thrombomodulin α) in Pediatric Patients With Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (thrombomodulin α [TM-α]) has been marketed as a novel anticoagulant for disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in Japan since 2008. Postmarketing surveillance (PMS) has been conducted since its approval. As effectiveness and safety were not previously determined in pediatric patients, this study evaluated PMS data and examined the usefulness of TM-α in treating pediatric DIC. After excluding newborn infants, data for 210 pediatric patients were analyzed and compared to 3786 adult patients. The day after the last TM-α administration, DIC had resolved in 58.5% of the patients. At 28 days after the last TM-α administration, the survival rate was 71.6%. Nineteen episodes of adverse drug reactions were observed in 11 patients but no significant differences were noted for effectiveness and safety. Although this study was limited by its retrospective design, including selection biases and no limitation on concomitant use of other anticoagulants, TM-α appears to be useful for the treatment of DIC in both pediatric and adult patients.