HTC Investigators Look at Rates of Cardiovascular Disease in Hemophilia Patients
Because of their lower factor levels, hemophilia patients are generally thought to be better protected from cardiovascular disease (CVD). To determine whether data would support this long-held assumption, a team of investigators enrolled patients from 19 U.S. hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs) in the “CVD in Hemophilia” study. The lead author of the study was Barbara Konkle, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, WA. She is also Director of Clinical and Translational Research, Associate Director of the Washington Center for Bleeding Disorders, and Director of the Hemostasis, Platelet Immunology and Genomics Laboratory at Bloodworks Northwest.
In all, 200 moderate and severe hemophilia patients, ranging from 54 to 73 years of age, were enrolled in the study between 2012 and 2015. The purpose was to better understand the prevalence of CVD in these patients. Konkle and her fellow authors collected medical records and patient interviews, then compared the HTC data with unaffected men of comparable age ranges. The comparison data were drawn primarily from the US Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) survey group.
The study, “A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Cardiovascular Disease in the Hemophilia Population,” was published on June 12, 2018 in the journal Blood Advances.