Baby with bleeding disorder gets new lease of life

LUCKNOW: A two-day-old male child suffering from Christmas Disease, a rare bleeding disorder, was saved by doctors of the Apollomedics Super Speciality Hospital here.

Addressing a press conference, Dr Mrityunjai Kumar, paediatrician, said the baby was brought to the hospital 40 hours after birth in a gasping state. “It was extremely pale and was in severe shock due to persistent bleeding. We had to use the highest permissive pressures on the ventilator but it was a tough case because of massive lung haemorrhage.”

“Three days later, the child was slightly better but had a second massive pulmonary haemorrhage. After 2 days of dialysis, the baby started passing urine again. We controlled the bleeding only by the seventh day. We had a very tough time maintaining nutrition for the baby as we were left with hardly any space for fluids because of too many blood product transfusions,” explained Dr Kumar.

Christmas Disease, or Haemophilia B or Factor IX Haemophilia, is a genetic disorder in which the blood doesn’t clot properly.

This leads to prolonged or spontaneous bleeding. Without treatment, it can be fatal. Dr Kumar said Haemophilia B was 4 times less common than Haemophilia A, making it a 1 in 20,000 incidence.

The condition is caused by defects in the genes responsible for the production of protein important in the blood clotting mechanism.

CHRISTMAS DISEASE, OR HAEMOPHILIA B OR FACTOR IX HAEMOPHILIA, IS A GENETIC DISORDER IN WHICH THE BLOOD DOESN’T CLOT PROPERLY