A case of acquired hemophilia A in an elderly female

Abstract

Acquired Hemophilia A (AHA) is a bleeding diathesis related to the development of factor VIII inhibitor, which can frequently go undetected. It commonly manifests as spontaneous mucosal bleeds without any known history of a bleeding disorder, but has the potential to cause life threatening bleeding especially in elderly patients with underlying comorbidities. Here we describe a case of AHA in a 78 year old female presenting with spontaneous mucocutaneous bleeding as tongue hematoma and recurrent gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Underlying etiology remained unclear in this case. While she did not require any reversal agents to control bleeding, the patient received steroids and rituximab as inhibitor eradication therapy.

Keywords

• Acquired hemophilia A
• bleeding
• factor VIII inhibitor
• rituximab