Experiences of t-PA use in moderate-to-severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease after hematopoietic SCT: is it still reasonable to use t-PA?

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) remains one of the most severe complications of hematopoietic SCT (HSCT). Anticoagulation and thrombolytic therapies using tissue-plasminogen activator (t-PA) have been used, but are reported to be ineffective and are associated with significant bleeding complications. We analyzed 56 moderate-to-severe post HSCT hepatic VOD cases treated with t-PA. We analyzed clinical outcomes according to the maximal daily dose of t-PA (t-PAmax) and the severity of VOD. Patients were stratified by t-PAmax⩽10 mg ( n =37) vs t-PAmax>10 mg ( n =19). A higher t-PAmax was associated with increased mortality. Bleeding complications were more likely at higher t-PAmax in both moderate and severe VOD ( P =0.036, 0.063), especially if patients had concomitant use of anticoagulants (36.4% vs 13.3%). In moderate VOD, the response rate was 86.4% for t-PAmax⩽10 mg/day and 80% for t-PAmax>10 mg compared with 33.3% and 7.1%, respectively, for severe VOD ( P =0.106). The 5-year OS in moderate and severe VOD was 49% and 7%, respectively, and it was 32% for t-PAmax⩽10 mg and 18% for t-PAmax>10 mg. Our data demonstrate that lower bleeding complications and bleeding-related deaths may result from strict limitations on the t-PAmax without concomitant use of anticoagulation therapy. However, the overall response and survival outcomes should be re-evaluated by a well-validated study in the future.