Recent acquisitions in acquired and congenital von Willebrand disorders

Massimo Franchini1, Giuseppe Lippi

  • 1Servizio di Immunoematologia e Trasfusione, Azienda Ospedaliera Policlinico, Piazzale L. Scuro, and Istituto di Chimica e Microscopia Clinica, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Morfologiche, Università di Verona, Italy. mfranchini@univr.it

von Willebrand factor is a multimeric plasma protein that mediates platelet adhesion as well as platelet aggregation at sites of vascular injury and, moreover, acts as a carrier of factor VIII. Its deficiency is associated with a bleeding tendency. The progresses in the pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of inherited von Willebrand disease and acquired von Willebrand syndrome will be discussed in this review.

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