Summary
This paper presents data on the occurrence and pattern of inherited bleeding syndromes
(IBS) in Iraq, a hitherto unexplored problem. During the first fourteen months of
a prospective on-going study at a major university center, 116 patients from 62 families
were diagnosed as having IBS. All patients were referred because of moderate to severe
bleeding diatheses. They included 62 haemophiliacs, 32 patients with von Willebrand’s
disease (VWD), 9 with Christmas disease (CD), 6 with afibrinogenemia, 1 with prothrombin
deficiency, and 6 were thought to have platelet dysfunction. 32 other bleeders (16
hemophiliacs, 14 VWD, and 2 CD) were also recognized among the pedigrees studied but
were not available for full investigations. The clinical and laboratory features of
the patients observed in Iraq do not seem to be significantly different from those
of patients in Western Europe or North America. Although the absolute incidence and
relative distribution of these disorders in the entire population cannot yet be determined,
the rate of occurrence per segment population is likely to be high, most likely due
to the high rate of consanguinity and large number of births per family, phenomena
still prevalent in this country.
