Factor VIII production and usage in Hungary.

Abstract

Factor VIII is supplied by the Hungarian Blood Transfusion Service mainly in the form of small‐pool cryoprecipitate. Blood for cryoprecipitate production is collected from non‐remunerated donors. About 600,000 voluntary donors, i.e. 6 percent of the population are giving blood yearly. Cryoprecipitate is produced by 39 blood centers distributed evenly within the country. In 1982 6.6times106 units of F.VIII was produced. There are 462 haemophilia A and 164 von Willebrand's patients in Hungary. 50 percent of the patients is under care in the National Institute and an appropriate percent of the national factor VIII production is also used here. 36 percent of our A patients belong to the severe form of the disease and are the main users of factor VIII. About 10% of the patients with von Willebrand's disease also need frequent factor replacement. The factor VIII supply of the regular users is estimated to be about 20,000 U/case/year.