Nokea
A 4-year-old girl with a history of recurrent epistaxis and easy bruising is referred to you for evaluation. She is found to have a prolonged PTT and a factor VIII level that is less than 1%. Both parents have a history of excessive bleeding. She is admitted with a severe episode of epistaxis, and your colleague orders 40 IU/kg of recombinant factor VIII. Her epistaxis resolves initially but within an hour starts again at the same severity as before. What is the best next step?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The correct answer is A: Infuse a von Willebrand factor concentrate. In this scenario, the 4-year-old girl has a history of recurrent epistaxis and easy bruising, indicative of a bleeding disorder. The prolonged PTT and factor VIII level less than 1% suggest a deficiency in von Willebrand factor (VWF) or factor VIII. When the initial dose of recombinant factor VIII did not completely resolve the epistaxis, it indicates a possible deficiency in VWF activity. Therefore, the best next step is to infuse a von Willebrand factor concentrate to address the VWF deficiency, which should help control the bleeding.
Summary:
- Option B (Give another dose of recombinant factor VIII concentrate) is not the best choice because the initial dose did not fully resolve the bleeding, indicating a different factor may be deficient.
- Option C (Call otorhinolaryngology to pack her nose) addresses the symptom but does not