Articular status of haemophilia patients with inhibitors.

The incidence of haemarthrosis is similar in young haemophilia patients with or without inhibitors, but whether this is due to the effect of modern therapy is unknown. In comparison with younger patients with haemophilia, older haemophilia patients have a lower incidence of haemarthrosis because of very severe arthropathy (crippled joints). It is not known whether this could be due to the lack of therapy in previous years. In addition, the burden of orthopaedic complications and the impact on quality of life are more severe in patients with haemophilia who have developed an inhibitor compared with those without inhibitors. This article describes the results of the European Study on Orthopaedic Status of Haemophilia Patients with inhibitors (ESOS) which set out to determine how the inhibitor status of haemophilia patients may influence their quality of life and degree of arthropathy.