Blood clot formation
Blood clot formation
Blood clots
Blood clots


Factor X deficiency

Definition:
Factor X deficiency is a disorder that causes abnormal blood clotting (coagulation), resulting from a shortage of a plasma protein called factor X.

Alternative Names:
Stuart-Prower deficiency

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Normal blood coagulation is a complex process involving as many as 20 different plasma proteins, which are known as blood coagulation factors. A series of complex chemical reactions using these factors takes place very rapidly to form an insoluble protein called fibrin that stops bleeding.

When certain coagulation factors are deficient or missing, the chain reaction does not take place normally. Factor X deficiency is often caused by an inherited defect of the factor X gene, and bleeding ranges from mild to severe. Another cause of factor X deficiency is amyloidosis (a disorder in which insoluble protein fibers deposit in tissues and organs, impairing their function).

Women with this condition may have severe menstrual bleeding and bleeding after delivery. Newborn boys with the condition may have prolonged bleeding after circumcision.

The incidence is 1 out of 500,000.




Review Date: 8/18/2003
Reviewed By: Corey Cutler, M.D., M.P.H., F.R.C.P.C, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Instructor in Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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