Comprehensive Care for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders
Children, adolescents and young adults with bleeding and clotting disorders need specialized care from an experienced team. That’s what brings so many families to the Cincinnati Children’s Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center. We offer comprehensive, multidisciplinary care, with the goal of helping patients experience the best quality of life possible.
Bleeding and clotting disorders can affect a person’s physical health, emotions, school experience, family relationships and other important areas of life. Our care team takes a holistic approach to understand each patient’s needs and finds ways to address them effectively. We also provide extensive education and support to help patients learn how to manage their condition.
Conditions We Treat
Hemostasis is the way the body prevents bleeding and stops too much bleeding from a cut or injury. Thrombosis is when blood clots block blood vessels. The Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center treats all bleeding and clotting disorders that affect children.
The two most common types of bleeding disorders are hemophilia and von Willebrand disease. These are life-long conditions that can cause spontaneous bleeding or bleeding with triggers such as surgeries or the onset of menstruation. There are different severities of hemophilia and von Willebrand disease. These blood disorders are inherited (genetic) conditions. Some types of bleeding disorders are not inherited but can be caused by a new change in a person’s genes. Other bleeding disorders can be associated with medications or antibodies that form.
Thrombosis is the development of clots inside the blood vessels which can result in pain and injury to tissue. Children with clotting disorders may develop clots in the “deep veins” of the legs or pelvis, in the lungs or in the brain. These clots may block veins and arteries and prevent blood from getting to organs such as the brain and heart.
Hemostasis and Thrombosis Laboratory
Cincinnati Children’s is home to the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Lab, which offers extensive testing for bleeding disorders including platelet disorders (platelets affect clotting) and clotting disorders. The lab offers many tests that are not widely available. This means our care team does not have to depend on outside labs to help diagnose and treat children with bleeding and clotting disorders. Having a sophisticated lab “in house” ensures high-quality test results and faster turnaround times.
Extensive Clinical Research Initiatives
Our pediatric hematologists (doctors who specialize in blood diseases) have dedicated their careers to caring for young people with bleeding and clotting disorders. In addition to providing expert treatment, they conduct clinical research studies to find new ways to treat and prevent these conditions. This gives our patients the opportunity to participate in research trials and help advance the treatment of these diseases.
The Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center participates in national and international research trials. Cincinnati Children’s has participated in:
- Groundbreaking hemophilia therapies, including long-acting factor VIII products
- National research studies examining the duration of treatment and new therapeutics for children with thrombosis
- Multiple local studies to investigate more effective therapies and treatment approaches for children with hemophilia, hemophilia with inhibitors and thrombosis
Your child’s hematologist can answer any questions you have about the research studies available at Cincinnati Children’s for children with bleeding and clotting disorders.
