Dear friends, Happy makar sankranti/ Lohri, some...

Dear friends, Happy makar sankranti/ Lohri, some diseases are indeed rare and sometimes difficult to diagnose. Hemophilia is a disease generally seen in young boys and rarely seen in girls. I was asked to review a patient 73 years female with bleeding while passing urine. she was even admitted for the same. A diagnosis could not be reached and hence she was referred to Lotus institute of hematology and Oncology. She never had past history of bleeding. no family member had bleeding. generally bleeding disorders are hereditary. we did her clotting (coagulation) tests andfound that her test called APTT was raised. on further testing we found her factor 8 level was only 1% (normally it is 100%) we have been blessed with 13 clotting factors which helps our blood clot when we have an injury. Even if one of the factor is missing, then the clotting process goes hay ward and we get bleeding. Luckily we could diagnose this rare case and admitted her at Lotus hospital and treated her with steroids and cyclophosphamide. She is very well now. She will need treatment for few months. this condition is called Acquired Hemophilia. we generally see 2-3 patients in a year!