Von Willebrand factor multimer quantitation for assessment of cardiac lesion severity and bleeding risk.

Background: von Willebrand factor (VWF) multimer quantitation has been utilized in the assessment of valvular heart disease, however, there is no standardized method for quantitation. We compared three methods of assessment which utilized a normal plasma control.

Methods: We analyzed 476 samples and their control plasma from 368 patients with valvular heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or LVAD therapy, and 27 normal subjects.