A 51-year-old woman sustained a 40% third-degree burn. After five grafting procedures that were unsuccessful due to uncontrolled bleeding, the diagnosis of von Willebrand disease was established. Skin grafting was subsequently accomplished without difficulty using cryoprecipitate as a source of antihemophilic factor (factor VIII). Serial clinical and laboratory investigations demonstrated that using the level of factor VIII procoagulant activity alone as an in vitro index of hemostasis was insufficient as a guide to the control of pathologic burn wound bleeding in this patient.