Paramedical Sciences and Military Health

Introduction: Congenital factor XIII deficiency is an autosomal recessive rare bleeding disorder. Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity and occurs in up to one-third of FXIII deficient patients. The mechanisms of ICH are not well understood. In this study, the association of ICH with plasma VEGF level in FXIII deficient patients was investigated.
Methods and Materials: This study was conducted on 30 FXIII-deficient patients including the 15 patients with ICH as case and 15 patients without ICH as control group. Patients with positive family history of FXIII deficiency, abnormal clot solubility test, as well as abnormal CT scan results were included in the study. The concentration of plasma VEGF was measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software.
Results: There were no significant differences in terms of gender or age between the two groups.
Twelve and 2 patients had history of one and two bleedings, respectively, and only one patient had three bleeding times in his medical history. Intraparenchymal was the most common site of ICH, and remaining had subdural and epidural hemorrhages, respectively. Concentration of plasma VEGF was higher in case than control group, however this difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: This study showed that ICH occurrence is not associated with plasma VEGF levels in congenital factor XIII deficiency, and some other underlying factors, besides FXIII deficiency, may contribute in ICH occurrence in these patients.