Assessing the bleeding severity in patients with type I von Willebrand using the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis-Bleeding Assessment Tool (ISTH-BAT) questionnaire

Background In the recent decade, bleeding evaluation methods have evolved to standardize the severity of bleeding symptoms in a uniform manner. In 2010, the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis-Bleeding Assessment Tool (ISTH-BAT) was developed and validated. Aim and objectives The aim of the study was to evaluate bleeding score (BS) in Egyptian patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD) type I and correlate it with laboratory parameters. Patients and methods This cross-sectional cohort study was conducted at Assiut University Hospital. It included 100 participants that were divided into 49 patients with type I VWD and 51 healthy participants with no known problem with bleeding or bruising. The duration of the study was ~12 months. Results Study revealed that there was significant relation between BS severity and laboratory parameters such as level of von Willebrand factor: Ag (P=0.02) while there was no significant relation between BS and sex (P=0.390). By using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, ISTH-BAT BS can detect type I VWD patients in total with excellent accuracy (98%), area under the curve was 0.989 with sensitivity and specificity of 96 and 100%, respectively (P<0.001). Conclusion The ISTH-BAT BS is designed to reflect the severity of bleeding. Our results demonstrate the inherent variability of this bleeding pattern. We also found that the ISTH-BAT BS has high sensitivity and specificity to detect type I VWD patients in total with excellent accuracy.