Treatment for Bleeding Disorders

Women With Bleeding Disorders Clinic offers comprehensive care with a single goal

Sanjay P. Ahuja, MD,
Hematologist, UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital

Although it is natural for women to have a monthly period, prolonged and profuse bleeding during menstruation — known as menorrhagia — is not normal.

Yet thousands of girls and women bleed so heavily every month that they are forced to miss school or work and “suffer in silence.”

But there is promising news: According to experts at University Hospitals MacDonald Women’s Hospital’s and UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital’s new Women with Bleeding Disorders Clinic, menorrhagia and other bleeding disorders can be diagnosed and treated with nonsurgical interventions.

Double Expertise

Lisa Perriera, MD, MPH,
Gynecologist, UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital

The new program is a unique partnership between University Hospitals’ women’s and children’s hospitals. The program is designed to provide multidisciplinary treatment from a team of medical professionals led by Sanjay P. Ahuja, MD, a fellowship-trained hematologist who serves as Director of the UH Rainbow Hemostasis & Thrombosis Center at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, and Lisa Perriera, MD, MPH, a fellowship-trained gynecologist at UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital.

“Receiving treatment for heavy bleeding from a hematologist and a gynecologist at the same center is much more efficient and convenient for patients,” says Dr. Ahuja. “We are the first in the area to offer this co-management service.”

“The program was created to streamline complex medical care and develop a beneficial treatment plan with dual specialists,” explains Dr. Perriera. “This expediency is particularly crucial because, for some women, even one heavy menstrual period can cause devastating blood loss.”

Pinpointing a Cause

To identify the cause of heavy bleeding, patients are examined and screened for bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia or von Willebrand Disease, one of the most common inherited-bleeding disorders in women. Blood samples are analyzed in a state-of-the-art laboratory so the team can review the findings and make an accurate diagnosis.

“Analysis is tricky because blood levels vary greatly from day to day, depending on a woman’s menstrual cycle, and it takes our team’s specially trained physicians and nurses to effectively interpret the results,” says Dr. Ahuja.

Treatments designed to help control excessive bleeding include oral contraceptives, hematology medications and hormonal intrauterine devices.

“Each patient’s level of severity is different, so we provide a full array of treatment options to fit their needs,” says Dr. Perriera.

For adolescents who have just begun to menstruate or women who have endured “flooding” periods for years, managing severe bleeding problems is a major accomplishment.

“The bottom line is that, with successful treatment, a patient’s quality of life can improve tremendously,” says Dr. Ahuja. “Our goal is to make women aware that advanced medical care is available and that we have the expertise to help them.”