Diagnosis of haemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders ‐ Is a new paradigm needed?

Defining success in haemophilia care - Are we doing it right?

INTRODUCTION

Transformational advances have occurred in the management of haemophilia in the last decade leading to much better outcomes. However, a detailed and critical examination of its assessment and reporting show gaps in many aspects. These are discussed in this review.

METHODS

The relevant literature related to different aspects of management of haemophilia was reviewed to identify gaps which need to be addressed. These include detection and diagnosis of haemophilia, documentation and reporting of joint bleeding, its management and methods of reporting in clinical trials and practice, aspects of personalizing care as well as access to therapeutic products and the need for and organization of comprehensive care.

RESULTS

Current diagnostic approaches have more than doubled the identified number of persons with haemophilia (PWH) over the last 25 years but still constitute only ∼30% of the expected number. Joint bleeding is the primary indicator of disease severity and treatment efficacy, but there is lack of consistency and standardization in the way it is recorded and reported. Its continued use as an efficacy measure of modern treatments which maintain steady state factor levels or equivalence of >5% will lack sensitivity. The treatment of acute haemarthrosis has focussed on haemostasis and pain control, ignoring the role of inflammation in joint damage. Phenotypic heterogeneity of severe haemophilia has recognized clinical and laboratory variations based on haemostasis but not differences in local response to blood in the joint. At the organizational level, IU/capita provides a relevant measure of access to therapeutic products when the detection rate is ∼100% but is fallaciously low when detection rates are very low. With highly effective modern therapies for haemophilia and nearly no bleeding, the concept of comprehensive care team will need modifications.

CONCLUSION

As haemophilia care advances, a deeper dive is needed into the details of various aspects its management to ensure consistency and contemporary relevance.

Viscoelastic Management of Coagulopathy during the Perioperative Period of Liver Transplantation

Viscoelastic testing (VET) in liver transplantation (LT) has been used since its origin, in combination with standard laboratory testing (SLT). There are only a few, small, randomized controlled trials that demonstrated a reduction in transfusion rates using VET to guide coagulation management. Retrospective analyses contrasting VET to SLT have demonstrated mixed results, with a recent concern for overtreatment and the increase in postoperative thrombotic events. An oversight of many studies evaluating VET in LT is a single protocol that does not address the different phases of surgery, in addition to pre- and postoperative management. Furthermore, the coagulation spectrum of patients entering and exiting the operating room is diverse, as these patients can have varying anatomic and physiologic risk factors for thrombosis. A single transfusion strategy for all is short sighted. VET in combination with SLT creates the opportunity for personalized resuscitation in surgery which can address the many challenges in LT where patients are at a paradoxical risk for both life-threatening bleeding and clotting. With emerging data on the role of rebalanced coagulation in cirrhosis and hypercoagulability following LT, there are numerous potential roles in VET management of LT that have been unaddressed.

People with congenital bleeding disorders perspectives on why dentists refused to treat them: An exploratory qualitative study using a card sorting technique

AIMS

This qualitative study aimed to assess people with congenital bleeding disorders (CBDs) perspectives on why their dentists refused to treat them.

METHODS

Using validated and reliable questions, people with CBDs were asked about their attitude toward dental visit and teeth brushing, perceived thought about dentists' knowledge and skill in treating them, perceived dental anxiety, and perceived barriers toward receiving dental services. Free text responses were added to report reasons of why people with CBDs could not brush their teeth sometimes and why the dentists refused to treat them. An open card sorting method was used to analyze participants free text reports.

RESULTS

A total of 30 participants were recruited for the purpose of this qualitative study (70% adults and 30% children). Hemophilia A affected the majority of both groups. The majority of participants (n = 20, 67%) reported that they have been refused to be treated by their dentists (71% of adults versus 56% of children, as reported by their parents, p-value = 0.398). Adult participants reported that they have been refused to be treated by dentists due to fear of dentists from uncontrolled gingival bleeding, their dentists' beliefs that no dental treatment required for them, their thoughts that their dentists will refuse to treat them and difficulty of accommodating the dental visit with other medical appointments. Parents of children reported other reasons such as parents did not ask for dental treatments, difficulty of dental treatment to dentists, young age of patient, and poor accessibility to dental services due to long waiting list. Fear of adult participants from uncontrolled gingival bleeding (n = 4, 57%) and poor compliance of children toward teeth brushing (n = 2, 29%) were the reasons behind why they could not brush their teeth sometimes.

CONCLUSIONS

Among several reported reasons, fear of dentists from uncontrolled gingival bleeding was the most reported reason of why dentists refused to treat adults with CBDs. While other reasons were reported by parents of children with CBDs such as parents did not ask for dental treatment to their children, difficulty of dental treatment to dentists, young age of patients, and poor accessibility due to long waiting list.

Point-of-Care Viscoelastic Tests in the Management of Obstetric Hemorrhage

Obstetric hemorrhage remains the leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Thromboelastography and rotational thromboelastometry are laboratory methods of assessing the kinetics of blood clot formation through real-time measurement of viscoelastic clot strength and may aid in management of severe hemorrhage. Although first described more than 70 years ago, viscoelastic testing devices are now available that allow for rapid point-of-care use of this technology to aid in real-time management of blood product replacement in cases of severe hemorrhage. These devices can be used to visually estimate multiple facets of hemostasis-coagulation, platelet function, and fibrinolysis-within 10-20 minutes. They have been used successfully in cardiac surgery, trauma, and liver transplantation and have potential for use in management of obstetric hemorrhage. Goals with their use include targeted transfusion of blood and its components for specific coagulation deficiencies. To date, however, published experiences with the use of these viscoelastic tests for obstetric hemorrhage have been limited. Because of the increasing use of the point-of-care tests by anesthesiologists, surgeons, and intensivists, the purpose of this report is to familiarize obstetricians with the technology involved and its use in severe hemorrhage complicating pregnancy.

Approach to the Patient with Bleeding

Approach to the patient with bleeding begins with a thorough bleeding, medical, and family history to determine the nature of bleeding and severity of bleeding symptoms. Use of a Bleeding Assessment Tool allows the clinician to obtain a comprehensive bleeding history and ultimately determine the individual bleeding score that reflects bleeding severity and is classifiable as either normal or abnormal. In the absence of significant findings within patient history or presenting symptoms clearly pointing to a specific bleeding pathology, an approach to laboratory investigation is presented that proceeds through first-line, second-line, and third-line testing.