Could your bleeding or other symptoms be due to hereditary factor X deficiency?
Hereditary factor X (10) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder that can be serious. It affects about 1 in 12 people with a rare bleeding disorder. If you have factor X deficiency—or think you might—this page is for you.
Here, you can:
What Is Factor X Deficiency?
Factor X deficiency (spoken as “factor 10”) is a rare bleeding disorder. It is caused by having too little of a clotting factor called factor X in the blood. Or sometimes, people have enough factor X but it does not work the way it should. Hereditary factor X deficiency is factor X deficiency that runs in families, meaning it can be passed down from parents to a child.
Factor X works by helping with blood clotting to slow and stop bleeding. Bleeding can happen inside the body (for example, in a joint) or on the outside of the body (as with a skin cut). People with factor X deficiency may bleed more than normal and have a hard time getting bleeding to stop.
Symptoms of factor X deficiency sometimes can be confusing or hard to understand. For example, symptoms may include joint swelling and pain that are caused by bleeding inside a joint.
Symptoms of factor X deficiency may include—
Symptoms in women:
- Heavier or longer bleeding during periods than most other women (heavy menstrual bleeding)
- Bleeding complications during pregnancy or childbirth
Symptoms in newborns: Umbilical cord (belly button) or circumcision bleeding that does not stop normally, or brain or stomach bleeding
Symptoms in anyone:
Easy bruising
Nosebleeds
Joint swelling/pain
Gum bleeding
Excessive bleeding after injury
Bleeding in the brain
What about pain?
Bleeding disorder symptoms can cause discomfort.
- People with bleeding disorders sometimes have pain with their bleeding symptoms.
- The pain can happen for different reasons, like swelling from bleeding in a joint, or bruising.
- It is important to tell your doctor about all your symptoms, so they understand how much bleeding affects you.
Patient and Caregiver Stories—Journey to Diagnosis
Adrian’s Story:
“After more than 25 years of bruising and pain, I was finally diagnosed with factor X deficiency.”
Maritza’s Story:
“As I matured, I started having heavy menstrual flows that caused me to miss school and social activities.”
Carly’s Story:
“We felt alone, afraid, and ill-equipped to raise an infant with a life-threatening condition.”
Pam’s Story:
“I learned that if you don’t get up and advocate for yourself and your family, then nothing will happen.”
How Do I Know if I Have Factor X Deficiency?
Talk with your doctor if you think you may have factor X deficiency. Your doctor may ask about your symptoms, medical history, and family history of bleeding problems. A simple blood test is all that is needed to determine if you have hereditary factor X deficiency.
Help your doctor help you.
- Answer a few symptom questions and save, print, or email your answers.
- Show the questions and answers to your doctor.
- Ask your doctor about getting tested for bleeding disorders.
Early diagnosis of bleeding disorders is important. Bleeding disorders like factor X deficiency can cause serious or life-threatening problems, such as stroke or miscarriage. They can also cause a lifetime of discomfort and pain.
Ask your doctor about blood tests to find the cause of your bleeding or other symptoms.
How Is Hereditary Factor X Deficiency Treated?
Hereditary factor X deficiency is treated by replacing the factor X that is missing in the body. How often treatment is needed depends on how often you have symptoms and how severe they are.
Routine treatment:
- Routine treatment means you take a medicine regularly as directed by your doctor to help prevent bleeding before it happens.
Near-normal levels of factor X are always in the blood 
- This may be the right choice if your symptoms are regular, affect your daily activities, are painful, or if you have severe (bad) bleeds.
Treatment as needed (on-demand):
- You may decide to treat each time you bleed. As-needed treatment can help to stop a bleed after it starts.
Factor X is given to raise levels to stop bleeding 
- This may be the right choice if you bleed very rarely, if bleeding does not affect your daily activity, or if your bleeding is not severe.
Treatment with surgery:
- Treatment may be given to help prevent bleeding with surgeries.
- This may be the right choice even if you bleed rarely or your bleeding is not severe, or your daily activity is not usually affected by it.
Ask your doctor if COAGADEX is right for you.
Indications and Usage for COAGADEX
COAGADEX, a plasma-derived blood coagulation factor X concentrate, is indicated in adults and children with hereditary factor X deficiency for:
- Routine prophylaxis to reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes
- On-demand treatment and control of bleeding episodes
- Perioperative management of bleeding in patients with mild and moderate hereditary factor X deficiency
Limitation of Use
Perioperative management of bleeding in major surgery in patients with severe hereditary factor X deficiency has not been studied.
Contraindication for COAGADEX
COAGADEX is contraindicated in patients who have had life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions to COAGADEX.
Important Safety Information for COAGADEX
Allergic type hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, are possible with COAGADEX. If symptoms occur, patients should discontinue use of the product immediately, contact their physician, and administer appropriate treatment.
The formation of neutralizing antibodies (inhibitors) to factor X is a possible complication in the management of individuals with factor X deficiency. Carefully monitor patients taking COAGADEX for the development of inhibitors by appropriate clinical observations and laboratory tests.
COAGADEX is made from human plasma and may contain infectious agents, e.g. viruses, the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) agent and, theoretically, the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) agent. No cases of transmission of viral diseases, vCJD or CJD, have been associated with the use of COAGADEX.
In clinical studies, the most common adverse reactions (frequency ≥5% of subjects) with COAGADEX were infusion site erythema, infusion site pain, fatigue and back pain.