Severe and moderate hemophilia A: identification of 38 new genetic alterations

Abstract

Hemophilia A is an X-linked recessive disorder caused by a lack or decrease of factor VIII activity. Its socio-economic impact is high given its high bleeding expression and treatment cost. Our aim was to establish the mutation of each patient to improve family management. A total of 116 unrelated families with severe and moderate hemophilia A were involved. Non-carriers of intron 22 and intron 1 rearrangements were included in F8 gene screening. Intron 1 and 22 inversion frequencies were 3% and 52.5% respectively. Putative mutations were identified in all the families; 38 were new. The cumulative inhibitor incidence was 22%. Approximately half the families carry non-recurrent mutations, which were unique in around one third. Harmful effects for mutations predicting null alleles are expected. Missense mutation consequences are not easily predictable, despite the help of some bio-informatics tools.