The Role of Bleeding History and Clinical Markers for the Correct Diagnosis of VWD

Abstract

Quantification of the bleeding severity by use of bleeding assessment tools (BAT) and bleeding score (BS) has been consistently shown to improve the clinical diagnosis of von Willebrand disease (VWD) while helping researchers establish phenotype/genotype correlations. Subjects with a BS equal or higher than 3 may be consider having a bleeding tendency, and should be referred for a laboratory investigation, particularly for VWD. In the diagnosis of type 1 VWD, the use of the BS has been shown to be highly specific (>95%) with reported sensitivities ranging from 40 to 100%. The BS is related to all available measurements of von Willebrand factor activity, including the PFA-100 closure time. Therefore, in clinical practice the use of BAT should always be the first step to standardize the assessment of patients with suspected VWD. The use of the recent ISTH consensus BAT is suggested to harmonize the collection of bleeding symptoms in patients with a suspected or confirmed hemostatic disorder, particularly VWD. The ISTH BAT is also coupled with a Web-based repository of bleeding symptoms, therefore providing an integrated framework for collaboration in the field of clinical evaluation of VWD and mild bleeding disorders.