Title: Drotrecogin alfa: A role in emergency department treatment of severe sepsis?
Authors: McLeay, Adam M.
Abstract: Human protein C is a serine protease that circulates in the blood as an inactive zymogen. It is converted to its active form by interaction with thrombomodulin on the endothelial wall. Activated protein C has a significant role in maintaining haemostasis, and is a major mechanism of controlling microvascular thrombosis. Recent reports describe the use of drotrecogin alfa (recombinant activated protein C) in severe sepsis, a condition relevant to emergency medicine. This review describes the physiology of the protein C pathway and its importance in sepsis. It will also focus on the use of drotrecogin alfa in sepsis, and its use in the ED.
Subjects: PROTEIN C; SERINE proteinases; THROMBOMODULIN; HEMOSTASIS; THROMBOSIS; RECOMBINANT proteins
Publication: Emergency Medicine Australasia, 2004, Vol 16, Issue 4, p324
ISSN: 1742-6731
Publication type: Academic Journal
DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2004.00630.x

Drotrecogin alfa: A role in emergency department treatment of severe sepsis?

McLeay, Adam M.