Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
HAEMOPHILIA, cilt.5, ss.50-56, 1999 (SCI-Expanded)
The haemorrhagic diathesis in von Willebrand disease (vWD) is caused by a quantitative deficiency or a qualitative defect in the von Willebrand factor (vWF) in plasma and/or platelets causing insufficient primary haemostasis. Since vWF binds and protects factor VIII (FVIII) towards random proteolysis, coagulation may also be impaired in patients with a low plasma level of VWF, and in instances where vWF displays insufficient binding capacity to FVIII. The entity of vWD displays a vast heterogeneity. Apart from rarely occurring acquired cases, vWD is an inherited disorder of autosomal linkage. The major clinical hallmark in vWD is an increased tendency to mucocutaneous bleeding that rarely reach life-threatening proportions, unless vWF is severely reduced or completely absent. Increased bleeding may also occur in sites such as muscles and joints when the level of FVIII is particularly low.