Primary antiphospholipid syndrome – a retrospective study of 29 patients followed in an Autoimmune Disease Unit
Keywords:
antiphospholipid syndrome, anticardiolipin, lupus anticoagulant, autoantibodiesAbstract
The authors present a retrospective study of twenty-nine patients
with primary antiphospholipid syndrome, 22 females and seven
male patients. Mean cohort age was 34.4 years (20-57 years).
Mean age of onset was 30.7 (20-53 years). The serological
findings were anticardiolipin antibodies positive in 27 patients
(93%), anti-ß2-glicopretein 1 antibodies in 25 (86%) and lupus
anticoagulant in 22 (76%). The main manifestations included
acute myocardial infarction in two patients, pulmonary thromboembolism in two, one patient with mesenteric thrombosis, one
with venous sinus thrombosis, 10 had 21 foetal losses (86%
occurred during the second and third trimester) and 13 had deep
vein thrombosis. Other clinical manifestations were thrombocytopaenia in six patients, livedo reticularis in four, anaemia in three,
migraine in three and one with transient cerebral ischaemia. Four
female patients had successful term pregnancies. Three patients
had recurrent thrombosis (two with deep vein thrombosis and one
pulmonary thromboembolism) despite anticoagulant treatment.
The most frequent initial antiphospholipid syndrome manifestations were deep vein thrombosis (44.8%) and pregnancy loss
(34.5%). During the 29 months follow-up (3-29 months, mean
14 months) no patients developed Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
(SLE) or other autoimmune disease.
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