Acquired hemophilia in an elderly person

Acquired hemophilia is a rare but highly fatal hemostatic disorder that occurs predominantly in elderly people. It is a disorder secondary to the development of specific autoantibodies directed against coagulation factor VIII. It is characterized by potentially fatal gastrointestinal, pulmonary, retroperitoneal, soft tissue or intracranial hemorrhages, so it requires early diagnoses and effective treatments. The present case is of a 78-year-old man with sudden onset gastrointestinal hemorrhage associated with ecchymosis and hematomas in soft tissues, with the complication of a laryngeal hematoma. He had a prolonged partial thromboplastin time (PTT), elevated factor VIII levels and elevated factor VIII inhibitorst. (Acta Med Colomb 2019; 44. DOI:org.siir.client.entities.ExtLink@5228f9).