Coagulation factor therapy for hemophilia: relation to hepatitis B and to liver function.

Therapy with concentrated coagulation factors has greatly improved the management of hemophilia, but the consequence of repeated infusion of these blood products are unknown. Hepatic dysfunction is frequent in patients with hemophilia, and the use of these products may be responsible. The relation between liver function and both the frequency and type of therapy with coagulation factors was studied in a group of patients with hemophilia. Of the 36 patients studied, 75% were found to have antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen in their serum and 44% had high levels of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT). The infusion of concentrated coagulation factor more than once per year was significantly associated with the presence of antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen and with a high SGOT level. The patients treated with concentrates prepared from blood obtained from large donor pools were significantly more likely to have antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen in their serum but no more likely to have a high H-SGOT level than the patients treated exclusively with cryoprecipitate, plasma or whole blood. These findings suggest that in patients with hemophilia the frequency of coagulation factor treatment may be a more important determinant of hepatic dysfunction than the type of treatment.