Biologic response to desmopressin in patients with severe type 1 and type 2 von Willebrand disease: results of a multicenter European study.

This study prospectively evaluated the rate of biologic response to desmopressin (DDAVP) in 66 patients with type 1 or 2 von Willebrand disease (VWD), each of whom had, on the basis of available records, a clinically significant bleeding history and at least one of the following laboratory abnormalities: bleeding time (BT) longer than 15 minutes, ristocetin cofactor activity (VWF:RCo) less than 10 IU/dL, factor VIII coagulant activity (FVIII:C) less than 20 IU/dL (severe VWD). Before the study, responsive patients were defined as those who, 2 hours after infusion of 0.3 microg/kg DDAVP, had increased baseline values of VWF:RCo and FVIII:C by at least 3-fold and achieved levels of at least 30 IU/dL for both and a BT of 12 minutes or less.