I recently spoke with the Altepase rep, who said they had been trying to get a study of hemodialysis patients involving blocking with Altepase, but were turned down, as the group was too heterogenous. They are currently looking at a study of hemophilia patients with lines, who don't need ANY heparin in their system. I'd love to see if we could convince them to evaluate this use of Altepase in conjunction with antibiotic therapy for infected lines. She said that there are many people out there coming up with new ways to use altepase, and the company will only let her visit those who use Altepase for catheter clearance of occlusions. They were actually told to stop coming to see us in angio; because, although we use altepase in that way, we also use TPA infusions to clear clotted vessels, and do 4 hour infusions of TPA for tunneled lines and ports, and the company was afraid it would be seen as condoning off-label use of the drug....... Sandy Schwaner RN Angio/Interventional Radiology University of Virginia Charlottesville
________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Donna J Gordon DJGORDON Sent: Tue 11/29/2005 8:06 PM To: Lynn Hadaway Cc: Innes, Kim Bourn; Nicastro, Margaret; Stone, Gloria; Nancy Costa; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Kimberly Sutters Subject: RE: question for group new subject We have used altepase for catheter infections, especially on peds patients. If a lot of blood is being drawn through the line, there is the risk of fibrin buildup within the catheter lumen, regardless of how carefully you flush. Using the altepase to "clean out" the lumen eliminates the breeding ground for the bacteria...works well Donna Gordon
