Acquired haemophilia in an elderly woman

Acquired haemophilia is a rare autoimmune condition with an annual incidence of one per million. It is more common in the elderly and is associated with the presence of anti-factor VIII IgG antibodies. Most cases are idiopathic but there are also known associations with malignancy, other autoimmune diseases and drug interactions. As aging itself is not a cause of changes in range of coagulation tests (prothrombin time, activated partial thrombin time or thrombin time), platelet count or fibrinogen levels, an abnormality in these should prompt the physician to search for a cause of the change. The case of an elderly lady who presented with severe soft tissue bleeding secondary to factor VIII inhibitor deficiency is presented in this report.