Acute Idiopathic Hypoprothrombinemia, Response to Massive Doses of Vitamin K

Excerpt In 1941 Rhoads and Fitz-Hugh1 described the first case of hypoprothrombinemia in which the previously accepted causes of vitamin K deficiency, i.e., liver damage and impaired intestinal absorption, seemed to play no major rôle. Thus, they established a new subgroup of the hemorrhagic disorders, namely, idiopathic hypoprothrombinemia. Since then, several similar cases2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 have been reported, differing somewhat from one another, but all with a prolonged prothrombin time. The present case report is added to the small group already in the literature because of the dramatic response to large doses of vitamin K. CASE REPORT