Spinal epidural hematoma in a child with hemophilia A with high titer inhibitors and follow-up with prophylactic emicizumab: case report and literature review

The good, the bad and the ugly of pain in haemophilia: Recent evidence on the epidemiology, molecular mechanisms and knowledge gaps preventing optimal treatment

INTRODUCTION

Haemophilia is an inherited, X-linked blood clotting disorder caused by the deficiency of coagulation factors VIII (FVIII, haemophilia A) or IX (FIX, haemophilia B). Spontaneous bleeds are common in severe forms of haemophilia and can also occur in moderate and mild haemophilia. Severe or repeated bleeding at a joint can evolve into chronic haemophilic arthropathy, with functional damage of the joint, disability, and intense chronic articular pain. Nonetheless, acute and chronic pain may emerge due to secondary conditions related to bleedings.

AIM

This narrative review aims to critically discuss the most recent evidence about pain in haemophilia to give healthcare professionals a clear picture of current knowledge hence favouring the optimisation of clinical management of pain.

METHODS

Extensive literature search with the terms 'hemophilia' AND 'pain', focusing on the time window 2021-2023.

RESULTS

Acute and chronic pain is a critical aspect of haemophilia at all ages. It should be considered a multifaceted phenomenon, with a positive role as an early emergency signal of a clinical event (haemarthrosis), and numerous detrimental aspects linked to its burden that heavily affects the health-related quality of life, with psychological and social consequences.

CONCLUSION

Despite its prevalence and frequency in people with haemophilia, pain is often underestimated by healthcare professionals, leading to insufficient and inadequate treatment, also due to uncertainty linked to the presence of the coagulation disorder or arthritic flares.

From a bispecific monoclonal antibody to gene therapy: A new era in the treatment of hemophilia A

The treatment of hemophilia A has progressed amazingly in recent years. Emicizumab, a bispecific-humanized monoclonal antibody, is able to improve coagulation by bridging activated factor IX and factor X. Emicizumab is administered subcutaneously and much less often compared to factor VIII products. It has low immunogenicity, does not require dose adjustment, and can be administered regardless of the presence of factor VIII inhibitors. Thrombin generation assays but not factor VIII activity are indicated to guide and monitor the treatment. Emicizumab has enabled the conversion of patients with severe forms into patients with milder forms of hemophilia A. It has reduced the number of bleeding episodes compared to both on-demand and prophylactic substitution therapy and has an excellent safety profile. Gene therapy can elevate factor VIII plasma levels for many years after a single treatment course, could offer long-term protection from bleeding episodes, and minimize or eliminate the need for substitutive treatment with factor VIII concentrates. Gene therapy can provoke an immune response, manifested by an increase in common liver enzymes, that require immunotherapy. Long term monitoring is necessary to identify possible adverse effects. Future objectives are: the development of an ideal viral vector, the possibility of its re-administration, the use of gene therapy in hemophiliac children, and determining whether it can be successfully used to induce immune tolerance to factor VIII ceteri paribus. The future will determine the place of each type of treatment and group of patients for which it is indicated.

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in a pediatric hemophiliac

Background

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematomas (SSEH), unrelated to trauma, epidural anesthesia, or surgery, are rare in the pediatric population. Here, a 1-year-old male with hemophilia presented with a magnetic resonance (MR)-documented SSEH and was successfully treated with a C5-T10 right hemilaminectomy.

Case Description

A 1-year-old male with hemophilia presented with quadriparesis. The holo-spine magnetic resonance imaging with contrast showed a posterior cervicothoracic compressive epidural lesion extending from C3 to L1 consistent with an epidural hematoma. He underwent a C5 to T10 right-sided hemilaminectomy for clot removal, following which his motor deficits fully resolved. A literature review of SSEH attributed to hemophilia revealed that 28 of 38 cases were effectively treated conservatively, while only 10 cases warranted surgical decompression.

Conclusion

Select patients with SSEH attributed to hemophilia with severe MR-documented cord/cauda equina compromise and significant accompanying neurological deficits may require emergent surgical decompression.