Congenital Factor XIII Deficiency with Treatment of Factor XIII Concentrate and Normal Vaginal Delivery

The outcome of all pregnancies complicated by congenital factor XIII (F XIII) deficiency has resulted in abortion without replacement therapy. We experienced a case with this disease and succeeded in normal vaginal delivery after treatment with weekly F XIII concentrate (Fibrogammin P, Behringwerke AG) during pregnancy. This 20-year-old woman, gravida 1, para 0, was found to have an F XIII level of 0% at age 6 and was treated with F XIII concentrate occasionally when she suffered from massive bleeding. In 1986 she became pregnant and was hospitalized at 6 weeks' gestation because of genital bleeding. Subsequent to this episode, F XIII concentrate was administered every week. At 37 weeks' gestation a 2,646-gram girl with a 1-min Apgar score of 9 was delivered. Postpartum blood loss was 260 ml. One year after delivery neither the mother nor the infant were found to have hepatitis B, nonA, nonB hepatitis, ATL or HIV. F XIII concentrate proved effective in such cases without any risk of viral infection.