Hemophilia A

Alternative names:

classical hemophilia; factor VIII deficiency hemophilia

Symptoms:

• bruising
• spontaneous bleeding
• bleeding into joints and associated pain and swelling
• gastrointestinal tract and urinary tract hemorrhage
• blood in the urine or stool
• prolonged bleeding from cuts, tooth extraction, and surgery

Signs and tests:

Coagulation studies involving many tests are performed if the person tested is the first one in the family to have a bleeding disorder. Once the defect has been identified, other family members will need less testing to diagnose the disorder.

• prolonged PTT
• normal prothrombin time
• normal bleeding time
• normal fibrinogen level
• serum factor VIII antigen
• assay for factor VIII levels