Made by DATEXIS (Data Science and Text-based Information Systems) at Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin
Deep Learning Technology: Sebastian Arnold, Betty van Aken, Paul Grundmann, Felix A. Gers and Alexander Löser. Learning Contextualized Document Representations for Healthcare Answer Retrieval. The Web Conference 2020 (WWW'20)
Funded by The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy; Grant: 01MD19013D, Smart-MD Project, Digital Technologies
Individuals with congenital hypfibringenemia often lack any symptoms are detected by routine lab testing of fibrinogen or when tested for it because close relatives have symptomatic hypofibrinogenmeia. Indeed, studies indicate that, among family members with the identical congenital hypofibrinogenemia mutation, some never exhibit symptoms and those that are symptomatic develop symptoms only as adults.
Individuals with this disorder are usually less symptomatic than patients with other fibrinogen disorders because their fibrinogen levels are generally sufficient to prevent spontaneous bleeding. Those with particularly low blood fibrinogen levels (<0.5 gram/liter) may develop serious bleeding spontaneously and many with the disorder do so following trauma or surgery. Depending on their fibrinogen levels, women with the disorder may also bleed excessively during delivery and the postpartum period; in rare cases, they may have an increased risk of suffering miscarriages. Individuals with the disorder also suffer thrombotic events which may include blockage of large arteries in relatively young patients who have high levels of cardiovascular risk factors. The thrombi which form in these individuals are unstable, tend to embolize, and may therefore lead to thromboembolic events such as pulmonary embolism. Both bleeding and thrombotic events can occur at separate times or even concurrently in the same individual with the disorder.
Many cases of congenital dysfibrinogenemia are asymptomatic. Since manifestations of the disorder generally occur in early adulthood or middle-age, younger individuals with a gene mutation causing it may not have had time to develop symptoms while previously asymptomatic individuals of advanced age with such a mutation are unlikely to develop symptoms. Bleeding episodes in most cases of this disorder are mild and commonly involve easy bruising and menorrhagia. Less common manifestations of bleeding may be severe or even life-threatening; these include excessive bleeding after tooth extraction, surgery, vaginal birth, and miscarriage. Rarely, these individuals may suffer hemarthrosis or cerebral hemorrhage. In one study of 37 individuals >50 years old afflicted with this disorder, 19% had a history of thrombosis. Thrombotic complications occur in both arteries and veins and include transient ischemic attack, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, retinal artery thrombosis, peripheral artery thrombosis, and deep vein thrombosis. In one series of 33 individuals with a history of thrombosis due to congenital dysfibrinogenemia, five developed chronic pulmonary hypertension due to ongoing pulmonary embolism probably stemming form deep vein thrombosis. About 26% of individuals with the disorder suffer both bleeding and thrombosis complications.
In of study of 32 individuals diagnoses with hypodysfibrinogenemia, 41% presented with episodic bleeding, 43% presented with episodic thrombosis, and 16% were asymptomatic, being detected by abnormal blood tests. Bleeding and thrombosis generally begin in adulthood with the average age at the time of presentation and diagnosis being 32 years. Bleeding is more frequent and severe in women of child-bearing age; these women may suffer miscarriages, menometrorrhagia, and excessive bleeding during child birth and/or the postpartum period. Excessive bleeding following major or minor surgery, including dental extractions, occurs in both females and males with the disorder. Thrombotic complications of the disorder are often (~50%) recurrent and can involve central and peripheral arteries, deep and superficial veins. Thrombotic events may be serious and involve occlusion of a cerebral artery leading to stroke, splanchnic venous thrombosis, and pulmonary thrombosis presumptively secondary to deep vein thrombosis.
Fibrinogen disorders are set of hereditary or acquired abnormalities in the quantity and/or quality of circulating fibrinogens. The disorders may lead to pathological bleeding and/or blood clotting or the deposition of fibrinogen in the liver, kidneys, or other organs and tissues. These disorders include:
- Congenital afibrinogenemia, an inherited blood disorder in which blood does not clot normally due to the lack of fibrinogen; the disorder causes abnormal bleeding and thrombosis.
- Congenital hypofibrinogenemia, an inherited disorder in which blood may not clot normally due to reduced levels of fibrinogen; the disorder may cause abnormal bleeding and thrombosis.
- Fibringogen storage disease, a form of congenital hypofibrinogenemia in which specific hereditary mutations in fibrinogen cause it to accumulate in, and damage, liver cells. The disorder may lead to abnormal bleeding and thrombosis but also to cirrhosis.
- Congenital dysfibrinogenemia, an inherited disorder in which normal levels of fibrinogen composed at least in part of a dysfunctional fibrinogen may cause abnormal bleeding and thrombosis.
- Hereditary fibrinogen Aα-Chain amyloidosis, a form of dysfibrinogenemia in which certain fibrinogen mutations cause blood fibrinogen to accumulate in the kidney and cause one type of familial renal amyloidosis; the disorder is not associated with abnormal bleeding or thrombosis.
- Acquired dysfibrinogenemia, a disorder in which normal levels of fibrinogen are composed at least in part of a dysfunctional fibrinogen due to an acquired disorder (e.g. liver disease) that leads to the synthesis of an incorrectly glycosylated (i.e. wrong amount of sugar residues) added to an otherwise normal fibrinogen. The incorrectly glycosalated fibrinogen is dysfunctional and may cause pathological episodes of bleeding and/or blood clotting.
- Congenital hypodysfibrinogenemia, an inherited disorder in which low levels of fibrinogen composed at least in part of a dysfunctional fibrinogen may cause pathological episodes of bleeding or blood clotting.
- Cryofibrinogenemia, an acquired disorder in which fibrinogen precipitates at cold temperatures and may lead to the intravascular precipitation of fibrinogen, fibrin, and other circulating proteins thereby causing the infarction of various tissues and bodily extremities.
The dysfibrinogenemias consist of three types of fibrinogen disorders in which a critical blood clotting factor, fibrinogen, circulates at normal levels but is dysfunctional. Congenital dysfibrinogenemia is an inherited disorder in which one of the parental genes produces an abnormal fibrinogen. This fibrinogen interferes with normal blood clotting and/or lyses of blood clots. The condition therefore may cause pathological bleeding and/or thrombosis. Acquired dysfibrinogenemia is a non-hereditary disorder in which fibrinogen is dysfunctional due to the presence of liver disease, autoimmune disease, a plasma cell dyscrasias, or certain cancers. It is associated primarily with pathological bleeding. Hereditary fibrinogen Aα-Chain amyloidosis is a sub-category of congenital dysfibrinogenemia in which the dysfunctional fibrinogen does not cause bleeding or thrombosis but rather gradually accumulates in, and disrupts the function of, the kidney.
Congenital dysfibrinogenmia is the commonest of these three disorders. Some 100 different genetic mutations occurring in more than 400 families have been found to cause it. All of these mutations as well as those causing hereditary fibrinogen Aα-Chain amyloidosis exhibit partial penetrance, i.e. only some family members with one of these mutant genes develop dysfibrinogenemia-related symptoms. While both of these congenital disorders as well as acquired dysfibrinogenemia are considered very rare, it is estimated that ~0.8% of individuals with venous thrombosis have either a congenital or acquired dysfibrinogenemia. Hence, the dysfibrinogenemia disorders may be highly under-diagnosed conditions due to isolated thrombotic events that are not appreciated as reflecting an underlying fibrinogen disorder.
Congenital dysfibrinogenemia is distinguished from a similar inherited disorder, congenital hypodysfibrinogenemia. Both disorders involve the circulation of dysfunctional fibrinogen but in congenital hypodysfibrinogenemia plasma fibrinogen levels are low while in congenital dysfibrinogenemia they are normal. Furthermore, the two disorders involve different gene mutations and inheritance patterns as well as somewhat different symptoms.
Characteristically, there is increased mucosal bleeding:
- menorrhagia
- easy bruising
- epistaxis
- gingival bleeding
- gastrointestinal bleeding
- postpartum bleeding
- increased bleeding post-operatively.
The bleeding tendency is variable but may be severe. Hemarthrosis, particularly spontaneous, is very rare, in contrast to the hemophilias.
Platelet numbers and morphology are normal. Platelet aggregation is normal with ristocetin, but impaired with other agonists such as ADP, thrombin, collagen or epinephrine.
Hypodysfibrinogenemia, also termed congenital hypodysfibrinogenemia, is a rare hereditary fibrinogen disorder cause by mutations in one or more of the genes that encode a factor critical for blood clotting, fibrinogen. These mutations result in the production and circulation at reduced levels of fibrinogen at least some of which is dysfunctional. Hypodysfibrinogenemia exhibits reduced penetrance, i.e. only some family members with the mutated gene develop symptoms.
The disorder is similar to a form of dysfibrinogenemia termed congenital dysfibrinogenemia. However, congenital dysfibrinogenemia differs form hypodysfibrinogenemia in four ways. Congenital dysfibrinogenemia involves: the circulation at normal levels of fibrinogen at least some of which is dysfunctional; a different set of causative gene mutations; a somewhat different mix of clinical symptoms; and a much lower rate of penetrance.
Hypodysfibrinogenemia causes episodes of pathological bleeding and thrombosis due not only to low levels of circulating fibrinogen but also to the dysfunction of a portion of the circulating fibrinogen. The disorder can lead to very significant bleeding during even minor surgical procedures and women afflicted with the disorderoften suffer significant bleeding during and after giving child birth, higher rates of miscarriages, and menorrhagia, i.e. abnormally heavy bleeding during the menstrual period.
Glanzmann's thrombasthenia is an abnormality of the platelets. It is an extremely rare coagulopathy (bleeding disorder due to a blood abnormality), in which the platelets contain defective or low levels of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GpIIb/IIIa), which is a receptor for fibrinogen. As a result, no fibrinogen bridging of platelets to other platelets can occur, and the bleeding time is significantly prolonged.
The most important differential diagnosis is disseminated intravascular coagulation, which is characterized with similar features but presence of a low platelet count and microcirculatory thrombosis. Antifibrinolytic treatments are contraindicated in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation while they are useful in the treatment of primary fibrinogenolysis.
There are various symptoms that are presented and are typically associated to a specific site that they appear at. Hypoprothrombinemia is characterized by a poor blood clotting function of prothrombin. Some symptoms are presented as severe, while others are mild, meaning that blood clotting is slower than normal. Areas that are usually affected are muscles, joints, and the brain, however, these sites are more uncommon.
The most common symptoms include:
1. Easy bruising
2. Oral mucosal bleeding - Bleeding of the membrane mucus lining inside of the mouth.
3. Soft tissue bleeding.
4. Hemarthrosis - Bleeding in joint spaces.
5. Epistaxis - Acute hemorrhages from areas of the nasal cavity, nostrils, or nasopharynx.
6. Women with this deficiency experience menorrhagia: prolonged, abnormal heavy menstrual bleeding. This is typically a symptom of the disorder when severe blood loss occurs.
Other reported symptoms that are related to the condition:
1. Prolonged periods of bleeding due to surgery, injury, or post birth.
2. Melena - Associated with acute gastrointestinal bleeding, dark black, tarry feces.
3. Hematochezia - Lower gastrointestinal bleeding, passage of fresh, bright red blood through the anus secreted in or with stools. If associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, suggestive of a more life-threatening issue.
Type I: Severe hemorrhages are indicators of a more severe prothrombin deficiency that account for muscle hematomas, intracranial bleeding, postoperative bleeding, and umbilical cord hemorrhage, which may also occur depending on the severity, respectively.
Type II: Symptoms are usually more capricious, but can include a variety of the symptoms described previously. Less severe cases of the disorder typically do not involve spontaneous bleeding.
Quebec Platelet Disorder (QPD) is a rare, autosomal dominant bleeding disorder described in a family from the province of Quebec in Canada.
As this is a disorder that is present in an individual from birth, there are no warning signs to look for. The first symptom usually seen is hemorrhage from the umbilical cord that is difficult to stop.
Other symptoms include:
- Nasal and oral mucosa bleeds
- Gastrointestinal bleeding
- Excessive/spontaneous bleeding or bruising from minor injury
- Prolonged menstruation in women
- Spontaneous abortion during pregnancy
- CNS hemorrhaging
Spontaneous bleeding of the mouth, nose, and gastrointestinal tract are common. Since blood clots can not be formed, minor injuries tend to lead to excessive bleeding or bruising. The biggest concern for individuals with afibrinogenemia is CNS hemorrhage, bleeding in the brain, which can be fatal.
Many of these symptoms are chronic, and will continue to occur for the entirety of the affected individual's life.
Primary fibrinogenolysis is the pathological lysis of fibrinogen characterized with a low fibrinogen, high fibrin degradation products, prolonged prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, a normal platelet count and absence of microcirculatory thrombosis.
Coagulopathy may cause uncontrolled internal or external bleeding. Left untreated, uncontrolled bleeding may cause damage to joints, muscles, or internal organs and may be life-threatening. People should seek immediate medical care for serious symptoms, including heavy external bleeding, blood in the urine or stool, double vision, severe head or neck pain, repeated vomiting, difficulty walking, convulsions, or seizures. They should seek prompt medical care if they experience mild but unstoppable external bleeding or joint swelling and stiffness.
Coagulopathy (also called a bleeding disorder) is a condition in which the blood’s ability to coagulate (form clots) is impaired. This condition can cause a tendency toward prolonged or excessive bleeding (bleeding diathesis), which may occur spontaneously or following an injury or medical and dental procedures. Of note, coagulopathies are sometimes erroneously referred to as "clotting disorders"; a clotting disorder is a predisposition to clot formation (thrombus), also known as a hypercoagulable state or thrombophilia.
Individuals with QPD are at risk for experiencing a number of bleeding symptoms, including joint bleeds, hematuria, and large bruising. In 2010, the genetic cause of QPD has been determined as a mutation involving an extra copy of the uPA (urokinase plasminogen activator) gene http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/115/6/1264.long. The mutation causes overproduction of an enzyme that accelerates blood clot breakdown.
The presentation of hemophilia B is consistent with easy bruising, urinary tract bleed and nosebleeds. Additionally, the affected individual may experience bleeding into their joints.
The clinical presentation of TMA, although dependent on the type, typically includes: fever, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (see schistocytes in a blood smear), renal failure, thrombocytopenia and neurological manifestations. Generally, renal complications are particularly predominant with Shiga-toxin-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (STx-HUS) and atypical HUS, whereas neurologic complications are more likely with TTP. Individuals with milder forms of TTP may have recurrent symptomatic episodes, including seizures and vision loss. With more threatening cases of TMA, and also as the condition progresses without treatment, multi-organ failure or injury is also possible, as the hyaline thrombi can spread to and affect the brain, kidneys, heart, liver, and other major organs.
Congenital afibrinogenemia is a rare, genetically inherited blood fibrinogen disorder in which the blood does not clot normally due to the lack of fibrinogen, a blood protein necessary for coagulation. This disorder is autosomal recessive, meaning that two unaffected parents can have a child with the disorder. The lack of fibrinogen expresses itself with excessive and, at times, uncontrollable bleeding.
Cryofibrinogenmic disease commonly begins in adults aged 40–50 years old with symptoms of the diseases occurring in the almost always affected organ, skin. Cutaneous symptoms include on or more of the following: cold contact-induced urticarial (which may be the first sign of the disease); painful episodes of finger and/or toe arterial spasms termed Ranaud phenomena; cyanosis, s palpable purpura termed Cryofibrinogenemic purpura), and a lace-like purplish discoloration termed livedo reticularis all of which occur primarily in the lower extremities but some of which may occur in the nose, ears, and buttocks; non-healing painful ulcerations and gangrene of the areas impacted by the cited symptoms. Patients also have a history of cold sensitivity (~25% of cases), arthralgia (14-58%), neuritis (7-19%), myalgia (0-14%); and overt thrombosis of arteries and veins (25-40%) which may on rare occasions involve major arteries such of those of the brain and kidney. Signs of renal involvement (proteinuria, hematuria, decreased glomerular filtration rate, and/or, rarely, renal failure) occur in 4-25% of cases. Compared to secondary cryofibrinogemia, primary crygofibrinogenemia has a higher incidence of cutaneous lesions, arthralgia, and cold sensitivity while having a far lower incidence of renal involvement. Patients with secondary cryofibrinogenemia also exhibit signs and symptoms specific to the infectious, malignant, premalignant vasculitis, and autoimmune disorders associated with their disease. While rare, individuals with cryofibrinogemic disease may experience pathological bleeding due to the consumption of blood clotting factors consequential to the formation of cryofibrinogen precipitates.
Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a pathology that results in thrombosis in capillaries and arterioles, due to an endothelial injury. It may be seen in association with thrombocytopenia, anemia, purpura and renal failure.
The classic TMAs are hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Other conditions with TMA include atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation, scleroderma renal crisis, malignant hypertension,
antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, and drug toxicities, e.g. calcineurin inhibitor toxicity.
Factor V Leiden (rs6025) is a variant (mutated form) of human factor V (one of several substances that helps blood clot), which causes an increase in blood clotting (hypercoagulability). With this mutation, the anticoagulant protein secreted (which normally inhibits the pro-clotting activity of factor V) is not able to bind normally to Factor V, leading to a hypercoagulable state, i.e., an increased tendency for the patient to form abnormal and potentially harmful blood clots. Factor V Leiden is the most common hereditary hypercoagulability (prone to clotting) disorder amongst ethnic Europeans. It is named after the Dutch city Leiden, where it was first identified in 1994 by Prof R. Bertina "et al."
In DIC, the underlying cause usually leads to symptoms and signs, and DIC is discovered on laboratory testing. The onset of DIC can be sudden, as in endotoxic shock or amniotic fluid embolism, or it may be insidious and chronic, as in cancer. DIC can lead to multiorgan failure and widespread bleeding.
Cryoglobulonemia may occur without evidence of an underlying associated disorders, i.e. primary cryoglobulinemia (also termed essential cryoglobulinemia) or, far more commonly, with evidence of an underlying disease, i.e. secondary cryoglobulonemia. Secondary cryofibrinoenemia can develop in individuals suffering infection (~12% of cases), malignant or premalignant disorders (21%), vasculitis (25%), and autoimmune diseases (42%). In these cases of the secondary disorder, cryofibinogenema may or may not cause tissue injury and/or other symptoms and the actual cause-effect relationship between these diseases and the development of cryofibrinogenmia is unclear. Cryofibrinogenemia can also occur in association with the intake of certain drugs.