Acquired haemophilia A: A 2013 update

Acquired haemophilia A (AHA) is a rare but often severe bleeding dis-order caused by autoantibodies against coagulation factor VIII (FVIII). AHA occurs more frequently in the elderly and in association with sev-eral conditions, such as the post-partum period, malignancies, autoim-mune diseases or drug exposure; however, approximately 50 % of re-ported cases are apparently idiopathic. Beside the elimination of the underlying disorder, the therapeutic approach to AHA should be di-rected toward the control of acute bleed and the eradication of FVIII autoantibody production. In this narrative review, we summarise the current knowledge on the epidemiology, diagnosis and clinical fea-tures of AHA, focusing in particular on advances in the management of this challenging bleeding disorder