Congenital afibrinogenemia: an unusual case

We describe a congenitally afibrinogenemic young man who experienced massive spontaneous bleeding episodes at unusual sites, including the thigh muscles, lung and brain. Each of these life-threatening episodes raised theoretical and critical practical problems. A large local hematoma was responsible for an accelerated consumption of fibrinogen, which was relieved following evacuation. It is unusual for an afibrinogenemic patient to survive a number of potentially lethal bleeding episodes.