[Von Willebrand's disease--gene, molecule, clinical findings, treatment]

In 1926, Erich von Willebrand described a bleeding disorder which, because of its autosomal inheritance and the tendency for spontaneous mucocutaneous bleeding, he called hereditary pseudohaemophilia. As a tribute the disease was named after him. However, its etiology and pathogenesis remained obscure until 1971, when Zimmermann and co-workers discovered that the blood of von Willebrand patients contained a lower than normal level of an antigen, the von Willebrand factor, which was associated with coagulation factor VIII. This paper briefly reviews the main points of what is known today about von Willebrand's disease: subtypes, gene, von Willebrand factor molecular/biological function relationships, prevalence, clinical expression, diagnosis and treatment.