A clinico haematological study of inherited bleeding disorders in children

Abstract

Since Judah the Patriarch's first allusion to the disease in the Taimud in the 2 nd century AD, the history of haemophilia has been a long journey through the triumphs and tragedies of transfusion therapy. 1 Once haemophilia was called a royal disease and Queen Victoria was a carrier. She was not the first to carry it; it has been on earth for centuries. 2 Diagnosis and treatment of inherited bleeding disorders is now well established in developed countries. But in many developing countries the knowledge and facilities for accurate diagnosis and sustained therapy are lacking. Few children with severe haemophilia can expect to survive beyond adolescence and those too will have incapacitating painful arthritis. It has been estimated that by the year 2020 there will be around 5,50,000 people with haemophilia in the world who will have replacement therapy. 3