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Hemorrhagic symptoms and bleeding risk in obligatory carriers of type 3 von Willebrand disease: an international, multicenter study
Author(s) -
CASTAMAN G.,
RODEGHIERO F.,
TOSETTO A.,
CAPPELLETTI A.,
BAUDO F.,
EIKENBOOM J. C. J.,
FEDERICI A. B.,
LETHAGEN S.,
LINARI S.,
LUSHER J.,
NISHINO M.,
PETRINI P.,
SRIVASTAVA A.,
UNGERSTEDT J. S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of thrombosis and haemostasis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.947
H-Index - 178
eISSN - 1538-7836
pISSN - 1538-7933
DOI - 10.1111/j.1538-7836.2006.02070.x
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , von willebrand disease , coagulopathy , confidence interval , gastroenterology , von willebrand factor , pediatrics , platelet
Summary. Objectives: We undertook an international, multicenter study to describe the clinical picture and to estimate the bleeding risk in a group of obligatory carriers of type 3 von Willebrand disease (VWD). Patients and methods: Obligatory carriers (OC) of type 3 VWD were identified by the presence of offspring with type 3 VWD or by being an offspring of a type 3 patient. Normal controls were age‐ and sex‐matched with the obligatory carriers. A physician‐administered standardized questionnaire was used to evaluate hemorrhagic symptoms at presentation. A score system ranging from 0 (no symptom) to 3 (hospitalization, replacement therapy, blood transfusion) was used to quantitate bleeding manifestations. Odds ratios were computed for each symptom. Results: Ten centers participated to the study, enrolling a total of 35 type 3 VWD families, with 70 OC. A total of 215 normal controls and 42 OC for type 1 VWD were also included. About 40% of type 3 OC had at least one bleeding symptom compared to 23% of normal controls and 81.8% of type 1 OC ( P < 0.0001 by chi‐squared test), showing that type 3 OC clearly represent a distinct population from type 1 OC. The clinical situations associated with an increase of bleeding risk in type 3 OC were epistaxis [odds ratio 3.6; 90% confidence intervals (CI) 1.84–21.5], cutaneous bleeding (odds ratio 5.5; 90% CI 2.5–14.1) and postsurgical bleeding (odds ratio 16.3; 90% CI 4.5–59). The severity of bleeding score correlated with the degree of factor (F) VIII reduction in plasma. Conclusions: OC for type 3 VWD represent a distinctive population from type 1 OC. These patients, however, present with more frequent bleeding symptoms in comparison to normal controls, especially in case of significantly low FVIII. Desmopressin and/or tranexamic acid might be useful to prevent or treat bleeding in these cases.