Acquired Hemophilia in Women Postpartum

Abstract

Factor VIII inhibitors occur in 15–25% of patients with severe hemophilia A while being substituted with factor VIII concentrates, as well as spontaneously in non- hemophiliac individuals. The latter usually are young women, who develop a factor VIII inhibitor either during pregnancy or more likely postpartum, or elderly patients with a predisposing concomitant disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma [1]. Non-hemophiliac patients with acquired factor VIII inhibitors often show a more severe bleeding tendency than hemophiliacs, with a lethality rate of 22% [1]. Intra-articular bleedings are rare in this patient group.