INTENSIVE PLASMA THERAPY IN THE HEMOPHILIAS.

THE BASIC OBJECTIVE in the clinical management of the hemophilias is to replace the missing plasma procoagulants in quantities sufficient to insure an effective hemostatic mechanism. Currently, the most easily available and least expensive supply of the procoagulants is normal human plasma. The basic principles underlying the use of plasma in the treatment of hemorrhagic crises in patients with classical hemophilia were outlined in 1955.1Application of these principles to the treatment of patients with other hereditary hemorrhagic disorders has demonstrated that the majority of bleeding episodes can be adequately treated with plasma alone provided that it is used with appropriate laboratory controls. This report will be limited to our experience with the use of plasma for the prevention or treatment of hemorrhagic episodes in the most common hereditary hemorrhagic disorders, namely classical hemophilia (factor VIII or antihemophilic factor deficiency, hemophilia A ), hemophilia B ( factor IX or plasma thromboplastic