Summary.  Background: Clotting factor products have been safe for HIV since 1985, and for hepatitis C since 1992. Few studies have reported on mortality in the total population of hemophilia patients after the period of risk of viral infection transmission. Objectives: We studied the mortality, causes of death, and life expectancy of hemophilia patients between 1992 and 2001. We compared these findings with those of previous cohorts, together spanning the periods before, during, and after the use of potentially contaminated clotting products. Patients and methods: We performed a prospective cohort study among 967 patients with hemophilia A and B. Death rates, overall and cause‐specific, were compared with national mortality figures for males adjusted for age and calendar period as standardized mortality ratio (SMRs). Results: Between 1992 and 2001, 94 (9.7%) patients had died and two patients were lost to follow‐up (0.2%). Mortality was 2.3‐times higher in hemophilia patients than in the general male population (SMR 2.3 95% confidence interval 1.9–2.8). In patients with severe hemophilia, life expectancy decreased from 63 (1972–1985) to 59 years (1992–2001). Exclusion of virus‐related deaths resulted in a life expectancy at birth of 72 years. Conclusions: AIDS was the main cause of death (26%) and 22% of deaths were because of hepatitis C. In patients not affected by viral infections, there still appeared to be a trend toward a moderately increased mortality compared with the Dutch male population. Thus, mortality of patients with hemophilia is still increased; this is largely because of the consequences of viral infections.

We performed a nation-wide cross-sectional study to evaluate determinants of bleeding symptoms in a large unselected cohort of adults with von Willebrand disease (VWD). VWD patients were included (n=664), based on lowest historically measured VWF:Ag and VWF:Act levels ≤30 U/dl. Menorrhagia (85%), cutaneous bleeding (77%), bleeding from minor wounds (77%) and oral-cavity bleeding (62%) occurred most frequently. Higher age was associated with a higher bleeding score (BS), determined according to Tosetto, in females. A 10 year increase in age was associated with 0.8 point (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4-1.1) higher BS. Females had higher BS than males (median 12 vs. 10, p=0.012). BS differed significantly between VWD type 1, 2 and 3: median 9 (-2-31), 13 (-1-33) and 19.5 (1-35), respectively (p<0.001). BS was strongly associated with VWF and FVIII levels: individuals with VWF:Ag levels ≤10 IU/dl, VWF:Act ≤10 IU/dl and FVIII:C ≤10 IU/dl had, respectively, 5.3 point (95%CI 3.2-7.3), 4.3 point (95%CI 2.9-5.8) and 9.6 point (95%CI 6.5-12.7) higher BS, than those with levels >30 IU/dl. In type 3 patients 1 IU/dl FVIII:C decrease was associated with 0.6 point (95% CI 0.1-1.1) BS increase (p=0.021). In conclusion, in VWD patients the bleeding phenotype is strongly associated with type of VWD and VWF and FVIII levels.

School functioning of 86 Dutch neurofibromatosis type 1 children (7-17 years) using teacher questionnaires was analyzed to determine the impact of neurofibromatosis type 1 on school performance. In all, 75% of the neurofibromatosis type 1 children performed more than 1 standard deviation below grade peers in at least one of the domains of spelling, mathematics, technical reading or comprehensive reading. Furthermore, neurofibromatosis type 1 children had a 4-fold increased risk for attending special education and a 6-fold increased risk for receiving remedial teaching for learning, behavior, speech, or motor problems. Children without apparent learning disabilities still frequently displayed neuropsychological deficits. Only 10% of the children did not show any school-functioning problems. Finally, it was found that the clinical severity of neurofibromatosis type 1 correlated with the cognitive deficits. Taken together, it was shown that neurofibromatosis type 1 has profound impact on school performance. Awareness of these problems may facilitate timely recognition and appropriate support.

The introduction of replacement therapy in the 1960s has improved medical and social circumstances gradually. The availability of prophylactic treatment has further increased the possibilities of a "normal" life for patients with hemophilia. We examined whether social participation and health-related quality of life (HRQol) of today's hemophilia patients differs from the general male population. There were a total of 721 participants in the Hemophilia in the Netherlands 5 study (HiN-5 study) ages 16 to 64 years. Patients with severe hemophilia participated less in full-time work compared with the general population. Occupational disability was reported by 35% of patients with severe hemophilia between ages 31 and 64 years, compared with 9% in the general population. HRQol of patients with severe hemophilia between ages 31 and 64 years was lower than of the general population. The differences with the general population in HRQol were least pronounced for patients between ages 16 and 30 years. Despite major improvements in treatment during the last decades, patients with hemophilia are still less involved in fulltime paid work and suffer more from occupational disability than men from the general population. After the introduction of prophylactic treatment, the number of patients who are occupationally disabled is

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