ANAESTHETIC MANAGEMENT OF A PATIENT WITH HAEMOPHILIA A

Haemophilia A is an X-linked recessive hereditary disorder characterized by a deficient or defective factor VIII coagulant (factor VIII C or antihaemophilic factor). Haemophilia is more likely to occur in males rather than females. This is because females have two X chromosomes while males have only one; lacking a back up copy for the defective gene, the defective gene becomes manifest more easily in males. Because females have two X chromosomes and because haemophilia is rare, the chance of a female having two defective copies of the gene is very low, thus females are almost exclusively asymptomatic carriers of the disorder. Only under rare circumstances do femalesactually have haemophilia.