Field, Rickard, and H u t t (1, 2) have reported the occurrence of a sex-llnked hemorrhagic disease in male dogs similar to hemophilia in man. The chief symptoms were due to subcutaneous hematomas and hemarthroses. Deformities frequently occurred. Most of the pups affected with the disease died during the first 12 weeks of life. Of 17 affected males described, none were reared to maturity. The female stock, heterozygous for the disease, was turned over to this laboratory so that a controlled breeding program could be instituted, and a more extensive investigation of the clotting defect could be made. Our studies of the affected male progeny indicate that the clotting defect is identical with t h a t found in human hemophilia. Repeated transfusions with whole blood or plasma alleviate the hemorrhagic phenomena, and permit growth of affected dogs to m a t u r i t y practically free of deformities.
Materials and MethodsThe male bleeder dogs used in this study were born and reared in our kennel The dams were known transmitters of the disease and of Irish setter stock. The sires were normal males selected without respect to breed.The clotting time of whole blood was determined by two methods: (a) a modified Lee and White method (3), in which two 10 X 75 ram. dry glass tubes were used for each test, and (b) the silicone method, in which needles, syringes, and tubes coated with methylchlorsilane (4) were used. The method for determining the clotting time of platelet-rich and plateletpoor citrated plasmas has been described (5). Platelet-rich plasmas were obtained by centrifugation of citrated whole blood for 5 minutes at 450 g. Platelet-poor plasmas were prepared by centrifugation for 2 hours at 13,000 g in silicone-treated glassware.Bleeding time was determined by a modification of Duke's method (6). The site of incision in one series of observations was the mucous membrane of the lip (1); in another series the inner hairless aspect of the pinna (tragus of the ear) was used. Incisions were approximately 2 ram. deep. On the lip the incisions were 2 to 5 mm. long, on the ear 5 to 7 mm.The platelets in whole blood were counted by a modification of Nygaard's method (7),