Role of multimeric analysis of von Willebrand factor (VWF) in von Willebrand disease (VWD) diagnosis: Lessons from the PCM-EVW-ES Spanish project

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 20;13(6):e0197876. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197876. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The multimeric analysis (MA) of plasma von Willebrand factor (VWF) evaluates structural integrity and helps in the diagnosis of von Willebrand disease (VWD). This assay is a matter of controversy, being considered by some investigators cumbersome and only slightly informative. The centralised study 'Molecular and Clinical Profile of von Willebrand Disease in Spain (PCM-EVW-ES)' has been carried out by including the phenotypic assessment and the genetic analysis by next generation sequencing (NGS) of the VWF gene (VWF). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of MA to the diagnosis of these patients and their potential discrepancies. Two hundred and seventy out of 480 patients centrally diagnosed with VWD had normal multimers, 168 had abnormal multimers and 42 a total absence of multimers. VWF MA was of great significance in the diagnosis of 83 patients (17.3%), it was also of help in the diagnosis achieved in 365 additional patients (76%) and was not informative in 32 cases (6.7%). With regard to discrepancies, 110 out of 480 (23%) patients centrally diagnosed with VWD presented some kind of discordance between VWF:RCo/VWF:Ag and/or VWF:CB/VWF:Ag ratios, multimeric study and/or genetic results. The VWF MA was key in the presence of novel mutations as well as in cases with phenotypic discrepancies. A comparison between the contribution of MA and VWF:CB showed a clearly higher contribution of the former in the diagnostic process. These data seem to reinforce the relevance of the VWF MA in VWD diagnosis, despite all its limitations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Genotype
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Phenotype
  • Spain
  • Young Adult
  • von Willebrand Diseases / diagnosis*
  • von Willebrand Diseases / genetics*
  • von Willebrand Factor / genetics*

Substances

  • von Willebrand Factor

Grants and funding

Research Grants (H16-32544) and (H13-000845) were from Baxalta, now part of Shire, and grants (PI12/01494, PI15/01643 and RD12/0042/0053) from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain. CIBERCV is an initiative of ISCIII co-financed by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) a way to build Europe.