Following a publication on the sudden outbreak of hepatitis A (HAV) in
fections in Italian hemophiliacs after treatment with a solvent deterg
ent (S/D) virus-inactivated factor VIII concentrate, we retrospectivel
y examined our patients for HAV seroconversions and clinical symptoms
of an acute HAV infection at our center. We found that between 1988 an
d 1992, 17 hemophilia A patients displayed HAV IgG seroconversions. Of
these patients, 13 also had an HAV IgM seroconversion and 10 exhibite
d clinical symptoms of an acute HAV infection. A feature common to all
was the fact that in the months prior to seroconversion they had been
treated exclusively with the S/D-virus-inactivated product Octavi man
ufactured by Octapharma in Dusseldorf (FRG). None of the hemophilia A
patients who had been treated with other products and who were suscept
ible to hepatitis A displayed seroconversion in the above-mentioned ti
me span.