The Prevalence of von Willebrand Disease in Patients with Menorrhagia

In review of literature, the prevalence of von Willebrand’s disease (vWD) in patients with menorrhagia has been evaluated as 5-20 percent, depending of study population. Before this study, just one study had been conducted to evaluate the prevalence of the disease in Iran. Diagnosis of the disease, and having it in mind in approach to menorrhagia is of paramount importance. In first step, all the patients who had history of menorrhagia and met inclusion criteria of the study were enrolled. A documented consent was obtained. In next step, necessary laboratory tests were requested which was followed by proper medical treatment. The results were documented and analyzed by statistician. Findings: 186 patients with menorrhagia referring to Alzahra and Beheshti hospital and clinics in Isfahan City, Iran, were enrolled. 44 (20.4%) and 6 (3.2%) patients were diagnosed as type 1 and type 2 of von Willebrand disease, respectively. 1 case of Bernard-Soulier disease was diagnosed incidentally. The prevalence and severity of iron deficiency anemia in patients with von Willebrand disease was 60% and 8.9 mg/dl, respectively. 70% of patients were from Bakhtiari ethnicity, 68% of them were the kids of inter-family marriage, and 66% had positive personal history of platelet dysfunction equivalent. In this study, the overall prevalence of von Willebrand disease in patients with menorrhagia was 23.6%, which was higher in comparison to other studies. Due to higher prevalence and severity of iron deficiency anemia in this specific group of patients, it would be rational to consider von Willebrand disease in approach to menorrhagia and concurrent severe anemia