Complications of Hemophilia

Complications list for Hemophilia: The list of complications that have been mentioned in various sources for Hemophilia includes:

• Antibodies against transfused clotting factors (see Clotting symptoms) - about 15% of severe hemophiliacs; 2.5% of others.
• Arthritis - from bleeding in the joints.
• Arthropathy (chronic joint disease) (see Joint symptoms) - from bleeding in the joints.
• Hemorrhage
• Fatal hemorrhage (see Bleeding symptoms)

Complications of Hemophilia: The major cause of disability in hemophilia patients is chronic joint disease - "arthropathy" - caused by uncontrolled bleeding into the joints. Life-threatening hemorrhage is a constant risk. Traditional treatment of hemophilia in the United States has involved "on-demand" treatment, meaning that patients are treated with factor replacement only after bleeding symptoms are recognized. These bleeds ultimately result in severely impaired joints. Several European countries are treating hemophiliacs by periodic infusion (prophylaxis) regardless of bleeding status. This approach maintains the factor level high enough that bleeding, joint destruction, and life-threatening hemorrhage are almost entirely avoided. There are, nevertheless, serious disadvantages such as the need for frequent infusions, the requirement for almost continuous access to veins by catheters, and the considerable cost of factor. In the United States, it is estimated that most patients on prophylaxis which is begun in the first few years of life will easily exceed the common life-time insurance cap of $1,000,000 by the second decade of life. The treatment decisions are not easy ones. ¹

Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Hemophilia: NHLBI

Last revision: May 28, 2003

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