New Orleans, Louisiana - rbd update
May 10, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana
TARGET AUDIENCE
This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of hematologists/oncologists, specialists in bleeding disorders, hemophilia treatment center clinicians, registered nurses, and other healthcare providers interested in managing congenital bleeding disorders and attending the 2012 American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) meeting, as well as registrants of the Blood CME Center.
STATEMENT OF NEED/PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Rare bleeding disorders (RBDs), coagulation deficiencies of factors I, II, V, V+VIII, VII, X, XI, and XIII, represent 3% to 5% of all inherited coagulation deficiencies worldwide and have a prevalence of approximately 1:500,000 to 1:1-3 million in the general population. Considered orphan diseases due to their rarity and neglected status, RBDs can present challenges to treating clinicians because their natural history and disease manifestations are not well established. Limited data and a lack of standardized treatment guidelines for RBDs make it difficult to determine prevalence, appropriate laboratory evaluations, and treatment strategies. In some instances, factor replacement therapy, the mainstay of treatment, is limited or not available at all in the United States, posing an additional challenge for clinicians as well as affected patients. However, knowledge of RBDs has increased within the past decade due to the advent of registries and databases that have begun the task of data collection and dissemination on a worldwide basis. This learning activity affords healthcare clinicians the opportunity to learn the latest information about RBDs, including symptom recognition, diagnostic workups, and treatment strategies, from bleeding disorders experts who work closely with national and international registries.