Clinical Profile of Haemophilia in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, India

BACKGROUND Haemophilia’s are X-linked hereditary blood clotting disorders due to deficiency of factor VIII (haemophilia A) or factor IX (haemophilia B) & also has identical clinical manifestations, screening tests abnormalities and sex-linked genetic transmission. Haemophilia’s result from defects in the factor VIII / IX gene that lead to decreased amount of factor VIII / IX protein, the presence of a functionally abnormal protein, or combination of both. Haemophilia A is a classic example of an X-linked recessive trait. The severity of their bleeding depends on their factor VIII activity level; and, rarely, a woman can have very low factor VIII activity, and present with symptoms of moderate or even severe haemophilia. We wanted to study the clinical profile of patients of haemophilia admitted in a tertiary care hospital. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study enrolling 60 known cases of haemophilia A & B admitted in wards & ICU / attending OPD of a tertiary care hospital. History was obtained in detail & thorough clinical examination was carried out. Precipitating factors for bleeding (spontaneous / minor trauma / major trauma / surgical operation / dental procedure / others), family h / o bleeding were studied in detail. RESULTS Of the total 60 cases of haemophilia, majority (49) of cases were of haemophilia A and 11 cases were of haemophilia B. In the study, majority (28.33 %) of cases belonged to 12 - 20 years age group and the most common presentation was haemarthrosis (61.67 %). 6 patients had factor VIII inhibitor antibodies and all of them were of haemophilia A. CONCLUSIONS Haemarthrosis is the most common clinical presentation of haemophilia and most common cause for haemarthrosis is spontaneous bleeding. Most common joint involved in bleeding was knee joint (target joint). Presence of factor VIII inhibitor antibodies specially in haemophilia A patients is not uncommon. KEYWORDS Haemophilia, Factor VIII, Factor IX