INVESTIGATIONS OF HEMOSTASIS DISORDERS IN CHILDREN

History-taking is the first essential step in the evaluation of clotti ng disorders in children. A primary hemostasis disorder can first be s uspected based on a bleeding time increase, which is difficult to inte rpret, however, in children. Drugs, autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpur a, and von Willebrand disease are the main causes. The prothrombin tim e, the activated partial thromboplastin time and the thrombin time are the first-line tests for evaluating coagulation. Specific factors can then be assayed to determine which coagulation factor is deficient. C oagulation factor deficiencies are usually acquired; hemophilia A and B are the most common inherited coagulation disorders.