- Erik Adolf von Willebrand:
- Born in Vasa, Finland in 1870.
- Received his MD from University of Helsinki in 1896.
- Received his PhD from University of Helsinki in 1899.
- Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at Deaconess Institute in Helsinki between 1922 and 1931.
- Ultimately appointed Professor.
- Died in September 1949, at the age of 79 years.
- First description of von Willebrand disease:
- First reported in 1926:
- Published in Swedish
- Journal name: Finska Läkaresällskapets Handlingar
- Entitled “Hereditär pseudohemofili”
- The paper focused on a family from Föglö, on the islands of Åland in the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland:
- Index case:
- Girl aged 5 (Hjördis S.)
- Presented with marked recurrent mucocutaneous bleeding
- Brought to Helsinki for consultation with Dr. von Willebrand
- Analysis of 66 members of the family revealed 23 bleeders, including both males and females
- Also described similar cases of hemorrhagic disorder distinct from hemophilia in the prior literature
- von Willebrand recognized this was an autosomal dominant condition, thus different from classical hemophilia (hence the term pseudo-hemophilia)
- Index case:
- In 1933 von Willebrand collaborated with a German physician, Rudolf Jürgens, which led to the disease initially being called von Willebrand–Jürgens thrombopathy!
- First reported in 1926:
References:
1. Erik von Willebrand. Thromb Res. 2007:120 Suppl 1:S3-4.
2. Hereditary pseudohaemophilia. Haemophilia. 1999 May;5(3):223-31.
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