Summary
There is no prospective evidence on inhibitor recurrence among haemophilia A patients
with low titre inhibitors or history of inhibitors, and whether or how therapeutic
choices affect the risk of recurrence. The aims of this study were to synthesise safety
data in patients with moderate-severe haemophilia A and with low titre inhibitors
or inhibitor history enrolled in the rAHF PFM (ADVATE) – Post-Authorization Safety
Studies (ADVATE-PASS) international programme. The study was conducted in clinics
participating to the ADVATE PASS programme. The patient population consisted of patients
entering the studies with low titre (≤5 BU) inhibitors or a positive personal history
of inhibitors. Patients on Immune Tolerance Induction at study entry were excluded.
Primary outcome was new or recurrent inhibitor titre > 5 BU. Secondary outcomes were
any increase of inhibitor titre not reaching 5 BU; any unexplained change in treatment
regimen. Primary analysis was done by two-stage random effects meta-analysis. Secondary
analysis was done by a hierarchical Bayesian random effects logistic model. A total
of 219 patients from seven studies were included. Of these 214 (97.7 %) patients had
been previously treated for more than 50 exposure days. Two hundred ten patients had
positive history for inhibitors, nine a baseline measurable titre. No patient presented
a primary outcome event (95 % confidence interval [CI] 0–1.6 %). Six patients with
previous history developed a low titre recurrence (overall rate 2.2, 95 %CI 0–4.8
%). When any increase of inhibitor titre or any treatment change was accounted for,
overall 3.7 % (95 % CI 0 %-8.0 %) of patients experienced the outcome. In conclusion,
the observed rate of events does not support the definition of this population as
at high risk for inhibitor development.
Keywords
Haemophilia A - ADVATE - low titre inhibitors - PASS - switching