Study shows success of hemophilia drug with some stroke patients

A hemophilia drug may be a magic bullet for bleeding stroke, the most deadly and disabling form of stroke, according to new findings.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Medical College of Wisconsin have successfully used the hemophilia drug, called recombinant activated factor VII, on a handful of patients with bleeding strokes that were related to their use of the anti-clotting drug warfarin.

The findings of the research, reported in the Feb. 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, have created excitement among stroke specialists. About three times as many patients given the drug versus the placebo survived without major neurological deficits.

Doctors at UW and the medical college plan to continue study trials to get FDA approval for the use of the drug with intracerebral hemorrhage or bleeding stroke. Based on the findings of this study, however, doctors have received approval to begin using the drug on a limited basis.