Haemorrhagic Diathesis Due to Deficiency of Factor VII

Abstract

Of recent yearsithasbecomeapparent that Quick's one-stage prothrombin time, although a mostuseful routine laboratory test, doesnot specifically measure plasmaprothrombin. Quickhimself (1947) recognized thatdeficiency ofhislabile factor (Factor V)caused lengthening of theprothrombin time,and Owren(1947) reported thefirst caseofcongenital deficiency of Factor V causing a haemorrhagic state whichhe termed parahaemophilia. Itisnowknownthataprolonged prothrombin timemayresult fromlackofanother factor which normally develops inserumduringcoagulation, andhasbeennamedbyvarious workers serum prothrombin conversion accelerator (Alexander), convertin (Owren), andFactorVII(Koller, Loeliger, andDuckert, 1951). Onlytwo undoubtedcasesof congenital deficiency of thisfactorhaveso farbeen described, thefirst by Alexander, Goldstein, Landwehr, andCook(1951), and another by Owren(1952). Thefollowing caseappears tobe thethird example. CaseReport