Zidovudine was first prescribed for patients from the anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive cohort of haemophiliacs in Newcastle in May 1987. Prior to this therapy, seven patients had died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and episodes of serious opportunistic infection were common. To date, 22 patients have received zidovudine, seven with or without acyclovir in a prospective Wellcome trial. Of the 22 patients, three were children and one was an adult female. All haemophilic patients were infected around 1982 as a result of factor VIII concentrate contamination with HIV.

Changes in coagulation tests (fibrin/ fibrinogen degradation products, factor-VIII activity, and platelet-count) and in renal function (creatinine clearance and serum concentration, clearance, and fractional reabsorption of urate) were measured in late pregnancy. 10 patients with severe pre-eclampsia showed changes in both coagulation and renal function when compared with 13 normotensive controls. 18 patients with mild pre-eclampsia had changes in renal function only. Results from 5 patients with essential hypertension did not differ from those of the normotensive group. When results from the patients with severe pre-eclampsia were arranged in order of decreasing protein excretion, only renal-function tests correlated significantly with this ranking. It is suggested that, in the management of patients with established pre-eclampsia, assessment of renal function may be of greater practical value than measurement of the degree of coagulopathy.