Persons with severe hemophilia A exhibit significant variations in clinical phenotype; approximately 10% are milder bleeders. This study explored factors that might contribute to this inter-patient heterogeneity. Using a multi-center prospective study following boys with severe hemophilia A on a tailored primary prophylaxis regimen, age at first joint bleed, body mass index, protocol adherence and family activity level were modeled on the age at escalation from once-weekly to twice-weekly and alternate day infusions. Escalation, based on bleeding frequency, served as a surrogate marker of bleeding severity. We also assessed the roles of clinical and hemostatic parameters in predicting age at first joint bleed using a cross-sectional study. Results suggest that a delayed first joint bleed indicates later escalation (milder bleeding pattern) and that a longer lag time is associated with an earlier onset of joint bleeding. Larger studies are needed to definitively identify predictors of clinical heterogeneity in these patients.

Persons with severe hemophilia A exhibit significant variations in clinical phenotype; approximately 10% are milder bleeders. This study explored factors that might contribute to this inter-patient heterogeneity. Using a multi-center prospective study following boys with severe hemophilia A on a tailored primary prophylaxis regimen, age at first joint bleed, body mass index, protocol adherence and family activity level were modeled on the age at escalation from once-weekly to twice-weekly and alternate day infusions. Escalation, based on bleeding frequency, served as a surrogate marker of bleeding severity. We also assessed the roles of clinical and hemostatic parameters in predicting age at first joint bleed using a cross-sectional study. Results suggest that a delayed first joint bleed indicates later escalation (milder bleeding pattern) and that a longer lag time is associated with an earlier onset of joint bleeding. Larger studies are needed to definitively identify predictors of clinical heterogeneity in these patients.

Abstract Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, and coronary artery disease accounts for the majority of them. The treatment of choice for complex coronary artery disease is coronary artery bypass grafting. However, as surgery in general, cardiac surgery is associated with an increased risk of perioperative bleeding and utilization of blood products. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of preoperative anemia, perioperative bleeding and retained blood syndrome as well as blood transfusion on the outcomes after isolated coronary surgery. The severity of perioperative bleeding was assessed mainly using the E-CABG and UDPB stratification criteria. Our analyses showed that severe bleeding is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke. Furthermore, severe bleeding increased the risk of several adverse events even in low-risk patients. Retained blood syndrome was observed to be a common complication after coronary surgery and was associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications. Preoperative anemia seems to have no significant impact on patient early and late survival. Instead, the frequent exposure to blood products may be the determinant of poorer survival observed among anemic patients. Perioperative blood loss and exposure to allogeneic blood has been shown to increase adverse events. Therefore, prevention of bleeding and measures to optimize patient blood management could improve patient outcomes after cardiac surgery. / Tiivistelmä Sydän ja verisuonitaudit ovat maailmanlaajuisesti yleisin kuoleman aiheuttaja, joista sepelvaltimotaudilla on suurin vaikutus. Sepelvaltimoiden ohitusleikkaus on käypä hoito vakavassa sepelvaltimotaudissa. Kuten kirurgiassa yleisestikin, erityisesti sydänkirurgia on yhdistetty suurentuneeseen verenevuodon ja verituotteiden saannin riskiin. Tutkimukseni tavoitteena oli selvittää preoperatiivisen anemian, perioperatiivisen verenvuodon, verituotteiden annon, sekä leikkausalueelle jääneen veren itsenäisiä vaikutuksia potilaiden lopputulemiin sepelvaltimoiden ohitusleikkauksen jälkeen. Verituotteiden ja perioperatiivisen verenvuodon määrää arvioitiin pääsääntöisesti käyttäen E-CABG ja UDPB verenvuotoluokituksia. Tuloksenamme oli, että vakava verenvuoto lisää merkitsevästi aivoinfarktin riskiä. Lisäksi vakava perioperatiivinen verenvuoto on yhteydessä useisiin komplikaatioihin myös matalan leikkausriskin potilailla. Leikkausalueelle jääneen veren huomattiin olevan yleinen ongelma sepelvaltimoiden ohitusleikkauksen jälkeen, minkä lisäksi se lisäsi riskiä useille haitta-tapahtumille. Preoperatiivisella anemialla ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevää vaikutusta potilaiden lyhyen ja pitkän aikavälin ennusteisiin. Sen sijaan, aneemisille potilaille annetut verensiirrot saattaisivat aiheuttaa näillä potilailla huomatun alentuneen elinajan ennusteen. Perioperatiivisen verenvuodon ja altistumisen verituotteille on osoitettu lisäävän haittatapahtumia. Siispä verenvuodon vähentäminen ja verituotteiden säästäminen voisi parantaa potilaiden ennustetta sydänkirurgiassa.