Frequency of acquired von Willebrand's disease in children with congenital heart disease.
OBJECTIVE
Bleeding tendency of paediatric patients with congenital heart disease has been well recognized. The underlying pathologies of this bleeding tendency have been studied extensively and many causes were identified. Among these causes, we aimed to find the frequency of acquired von Willebrand's disease (AvWD) in children with congenital heart disease.


METHODS
Forty-nine children with different forms of congenital cardiopathies who were assigned for surgery, are included in the study. Serum von Willebrand factor antigen level as well as ristocetin cofactor agglutination ratios were determined preoperatively and at one week and 6 months postoperatively.


RESULTS
Six patients (12.2%) were found to have AvWD. However, we found no relation between bleeding tendency and AvWD status.


CONCLUSIONS
Although frequency of von Willebrand factor deficiency is higher in children with congenital heart disease than in the normal population, this condition does not result in adverse clinical outcomes like increased bleeding tendency during operation.
Arslan
Mehmet Tayip
MT
Dept. of Pediatrics, Ege University Medical Faculty, Izmir, Turkey. mehmettayyip@yahoo.com
Ozyurek
Ruhi
R
Kavakli
Kaan
K
Levent
Erturk
E
Ulger
Zulal
Z
Gurses
Dolunay
D
Akyol
Bedir
B
Atay
Yüksel
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000371:Agglutination; D000941:Antigens / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010976:Platelet Count; D011184:Postoperative Period; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014842:von Willebrand Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000276:immunology