Hemophilia in the 21 Century: Tremendous Progress, Tremendous Opportunity

Since antiquity, when a recognition of a familial, fatal bleeding disorder in males was first recorded,1 the world has been inhabited by individuals who lack adequate activity of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) or IX (FIX). It was not until 1803, however, that Dr. Joseph Conrad Otto, a physician in the United States, published the first description of a case of a heritable bleeding condition transmitted through mothers to some of their sons.2 Eventually, in additional to spontaneous and traumatic bleeding, the disorder was understood to be distinguished phenotypically by a singular and distinctive tendency for bleeding into joints leading to disabling arthritis,3 a phenomenon that still is incompletely understood.

Source: Seminars in Hematology - October 26, 2015 Category: Hematology Authors: Patrick F. Fogarty Source Type: research