Summary
A case of congenital combined deficiency of factor V and factor VIII was reported.
The patient, a 9 year old boy, gave a history of epistaxis, hematomas, and of hemorrhages
following dental extraction since the age of 2 ; plasma levels of factor V and factor
VIII were found to be 16% and 8% of normal, respectively. No one in his family had
a deficiency of either factor. The effects of transfusion of normal fresh plasma and
whole blood from a patient with hemophilia A were studied. While the former were similar
to the pattern as seen in classical hemophilia, the latter consisted of an immediate
increase of factor V activity and a delayed increase of factor VIII activity, despite
the fact that factor VIII activity was almost absent from the donor’s blood.