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Individuals with severe hemophilia have recurrent hemarthrosis, fragmentation of joint cartilage, bone destruction, and crippling. Prophylactic replacement therapy with clotting factor concentrates can prevent bleeding and might delay the development of arthropathy.
To examine the effects of prophylaxis on bleeding and arthropathy in this setting, investigators analyzed data on 6126 patients with severe hemophilia who visited 134 treatment centers in the U.S. Hemophilia Treatment Network between 1999 and 2010.
The results were as follows:
During the study years, prophylaxis use increased from 31% to 59%; by 2010, 75% of patients <20 years of age were receiving prophylaxis therapy.
Hemarthroses rates per 6 months declined from a mean of 3.03 to …