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Treatment of von Willebrand disease with two plasma antihemophilic factor (AHF) concentrates, cryoprecipitate and glycine-precipitated AHF, was compared. Both concentrates were equally effective in immediately raising the plasma levels of factor VIII, the factor VIII-related antigen, and the ristocetin-related von Willebrand factor (vWF) and in stimulating a secondary rise in plasma factor VIII. Given either concentrate, the vWF activity, the antigen, and factor VIII levels were normalized in a patient with von Willebrand disease. However, correction of the prolonged bleeding time and control of bleeding occurred only with the cryoprecipitate. The bleeding-time corrective factor and the ristocetin-related vWF or platelet-aggregating factor are dissociable, distinct activites.

A retrospective analysis of 12 patients with the diagnosis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura was undertaken with a review of pathological material. The gingival biopsy was found to be a poor method of diagnosing thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Pathological review also verified chronicity of disease. The pancreas was found to be the most severely involved organ, although serum amylase values did not always reflect pancreatic disease.