von Willebrand's disease

English

Etymology

Named after Erik Adolf von Willebrand, a Finnish physician who first described the disease in 1926.

Noun

von Willebrand's disease (uncountable)

1. (medicine) An hereditary disease, characterized by a tendency to hemorrhage, and caused by a defect in blood platelet activity.
   • "Von Willebrand's disease is an autosomally transmitted disorder of hemostasis caused by a deficiency of or defect in the von Willebrand factor in the blood, a protein required for adherence of platelets to an injured vessel wall." - D. Green. Von Willebrand's disease. Postgraduate Medicine. 1980 Mar;67(3):241-5, 248. [1]

Usage notes

Modern editors often prefer the non-possessive form of medical eponyms such as von Willebrand disease.

Derived terms

• von Willebrand factor