Patient: Female, 87 Final Diagnosis: Acquired hemophilia A Symptoms: Chest discomfort • shortness of breath Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Hematology Objective: Unusual setting of medical care Background: Acquired hemophilia A (AHA) is a rare hemorrhagic disorder that is caused by producing autoantibodies against factor VIII. It is usually characterized by severe, spontaneous bleeding, which can be life-threatening. The current standard treatments for bleeding prophylaxis are highly effective but accompanied with some disadvantages such as frequent intravenous infusions, high cost, and risk of thromboembolic complications. Emicizumab is a bispecific antibody with a therapeutic FVIII-mimetic nature. Emicizumab has shown a reduction in annualized bleeding rate in congenital hemophilia patients with and without inhibitors. The pathophysiological concepts and preclinical data suggest that Emicizumab can be effectively used for treating AHA. Case Report: We present the case of an 87-year-old woman admitted for symptomatic anemia and large chest wall and pelvic hematomas confirmed by imaging, without history of trauma. Her coagulation studies showed isolated prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), low factor VIII activity level, and high levels of factor VIII inhibitor. She was successfully treated with activated prothrombin complex concentrate (aPCC), which was transitioned to Emicizumab on discharge. No recurrent bleeding episodes or adverse events related to Emicizumab were reported during the 2-month follow-up period. Conclusions: A subcutaneous weekly or biweekly injection of Emicizumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody, offers several advantages: less frequent infusions, good hemostatic efficacy, possible outpatient therapy, and even more cost-effective than bypassing agents. More clinical studies should be conducted to compare Emicizumab with the current standards of care.

Acquired haemophilia A (AHA) is a rare haemorrhagic disorder caused by the development of autoantibodies inhibiting factor VIII function. It predominantly affects the elderly, who are often burdened with a considerable number of comorbidities, and can result in life-threatening bleeding. The management of AHA consists of two aspects: inhibitor eradication with an immunomodulator and bleed control with a bypassing agent. Here we present a case of AHA with a high titre inhibitor in a patient with extensive comorbidities and atrial fibrillation in whom inhibitor eradication could not be achieved within a few weeks using corticosteroids alone. Due to coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 restrictions and complications of care, emicizumab offered an effective and convenient therapy, not only sparing the need for continued and intensified inhibitor eradication, but also allowing anticoagulation for stroke prophylaxis.

Purpose Coagulopathy is common in patients with COVID-19. The ideal approach to anticoagulation remains under debate. There is a significant variability in existing protocols for anticoagulation, and these are mostly based on sporadic reports, small studies, and expert opinion. Materials and methods This multicenter retrospective cohort study evaluated the association between anticoagulation dose and inpatient mortality among critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs) or step-down units (SDUs) of eight Beaumont Healthcare hospitals in Michigan, USA from March 10th to April 15th, 2020. Results Included were 578 patients with a median age of 64 years; among whom, 57.8% were males. Most patients (n = 447, 77.3%) received high dose and one in four (n = 131, 22.7%) received low dose anticoagulation. Overall mortality rate was 41.9% (n = 242). After adjusting for potential confounders (age, sex, race, BMI, ferritin level at hospital admission, intubation, comorbidities, mSOFA, and Padua score), administration of high anticoagulation doses at the time of ICU/SDU admission was associated with decreased inpatient mortality (OR 0.564, 95% CI 0.333–0.953, p = 0.032) compared to low dose. Conclusion Treatment with high dose anticoagulation at the time of ICU/SDU admission was associated with decreased adjusted mortality among critically ill adult patients with COVID-19.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a multisystemic autoimmune disease which presents with thromboembolic disease, pregnancy complications and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. There are some reports of arterial dissections in different sites of the body associated with APS. We describe two patients with APS who developed ischaemic stroke as a result of vertebral artery dissection in the absence of acquired and genetic risk factors for arterial dissection. We also conducted a systematic review of the literature for cases of arterial dissection associated with APS. We suspect that APS may be a potential cause of vasculopathy and arterial dissection. Further research is needed to explore this possible association.

Introduction Acquired hemophilia A (AHA) is a severe bleeding disorder due to autoantibodies against factor VIII (FVIII) with high morbidity/mortality from bleeding and complications from immunosuppression. Outcomes could improve with adequate hemostatic prophylaxis in the outpatient setting and reduced immunosuppression. Emicizumab, a FVIII-mimetic bispecific antibody, has revolutionized prophylaxis for congenital hemophilia A, but the role in AHA is unknown with limited data. Methods 87 hematologists at different US hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs) were queried on the use of emicizumab for AHA. Pediatric hematologists were excluded given the negligible incidence of pediatric AHA. 10 respondents had experience with off label emicizumab for AHA and were prompted for de-identified data on AHA cases treated with emicizumab at their HTC. These responses were compiled into a central database at the University of Washington under IRB exemption. Results Of the 87 US HTCs queried, 32 reported experience treating AHA; combined, 358 patients with AHA were treated at the 32 HTCs within the last 5 years. 10 respondents (31%) used off label emicizumab for a total of 40 patients with AHA. HTCs that had not used emicizumab for AHA had seen fewer cases of AHA in the last 5 years (average 8 vs 17 patients). Most HTCs (86%) would consider emicizumab if safety data in AHA was available. Of the 10 respondents who used emicizumab for AHA, 7 submitted deidentified data for a total of 24 cases of AHA treated with emicizumab. The median age of subjects was 73 years (range 34-87), 10 were female. The majority (17) were Caucasian. 15 had conditions often associated with AHA: autoimmune disease (7, with 4 on immunosuppression), cancer (6), and peripartum (2). Additionally, one patient had mild congenital hemophilia A and developed an autoantibody to FVIII. Other comorbidities included metabolic syndrome (11), vascular disease (10), prior venous thrombosis (3, none on anticoagulation), alcoholic pancreatitis (1) and Alzheimer's dementia (1). 3 had no comorbidities. At time of diagnosis, 4 were on antiplatelet therapy and 2 on therapeutic anticoagulation, which were discontinued in all cases. The majority presented with bleeding (92%): 63% was spontaneous with most in soft tissue (67%), followed by hematuria (17%), hemarthrosis (8%), retroperitoneal (8%), gastrointestinal (8%), subdural hematoma (4%). At diagnosis, the median FVIII was <1% (range <1 to 28%). The median maximum inhibitor titer was 54 BU/mL (0.8-749 BU/mL). Most (79%) were on immunosuppression prior to starting emicizumab: glucocorticoids (67%), rituximab (54%), cyclophosphamide (17%), mycophenolate mofetil (13%), daratumumab (4%). Prior to starting emicizumab, four had adverse events with immunosuppression: hyperglycemia (1), demand ischemia (2) and hypersensitivity to immunosuppression (1). Emicizumab was mostly started to improve bleeding prophylaxis and/or facilitate outpatient management (Table A). Dosing varied with most receiving the standard loading regimen used for congenital hemophilia A (Table A). Bleeding resolved in most after starting emicizumab (Table B). One patient had new ecchymoses after the first loading dose, which resolved after further doses. 3 patients had breakthrough bleeding on maintenance emicizumab: two had hematuria that resolved with hemostatic agents and in one case a procedure; another had severe gastrointestinal bleeding 4 months after starting emicizumab that required an endoscopy and hemostatic agents (Table B). The majority (95%) tolerated emicizumab without complications. One patient developed a lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) while on maintenance emicizumab 3 mg/kg every other week. This patient had no history of DVT, but was on apixaban for atrial fibrillation until AHA diagnosis. Anticoagulation was resumed after the DVT. Emicizumab was held for 4 weeks and restarted at 1.5 mg/Kg every other week with no additional adverse events. At the time of the survey, 4 patients had died, of whom 2 were on emicizumab. No deaths were attributed to emicizumab. Of the living patients, 8 remain on emicizumab with persistent inhibitors, with 6 off immunosuppression (Figure One). Conclusion Emicizumab could improve AHA outcomes by providing outpatient hemostatic prophylaxis with lower intensity immunosuppression. Additional safety and dosing data are needed to clarify the role of emicizumab in AHA. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Poston: TeraImmune: Consultancy. von Drygalski: Hematherix, Inc: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties: Super FVa; uniQure: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; CSL Behring: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Biomarin: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Research Funding; Novo Nordisk: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Parnes: Shire/Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Genentech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genentech/Hoffman LaRoche: Research Funding; Sigilon: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sunovion: Consultancy; I-mAb: Consultancy; Aspa: Consultancy; UniQure: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Walsh: Tremeau: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Biomarin: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy; Novo Nordisk: Consultancy. Kessler: Novo Nordisk: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; CSL Behring: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Octapharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bayer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Genentech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Janbain: Bayer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Steering Committee member; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; CSL Behring: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Genentech: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Octapharma: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Biomarin: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Malec: CSL Behring: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy; HEMA Biologics: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy. Kruse-Jarres: Biomarin: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genentech/Roche: Speakers Bureau; CSL Behring: Consultancy; CRISPR: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy. OffLabel Disclosure: Emicizumab is FDA approved for congential hemophilia A and is a bispecific monoclonal antibody that binds coagulation factors IXa and X. We will discuss off label use for acquired hemophilia A.