Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome

Clinical Criteria

One or more episodes of arterial , venous or small vessel thrombosis , occurring in any tissue or organ .

Complications of pregnancy : one or more unexplained deaths of a morphologically normal fetus more than 10 weeks of gestation documented by ultrasound or by direct examination

Or

One or more preterm births of a morphologically normal neonate at or before 34 weeks or gestation due to severe pre-eclampsia or placental insufficiency .

Or

Three or more consecutive abortions before 10 weeks gestation with no maternal and paternal chromosomes and other causes of recurrent losses being ruled out .

Laboratory Criteria

a.Anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) : aCL IgM antibodies present in moderate or high titers on 2 or more occasions at least 6 weeks apart.

b.Lupus anticoagulant : Detection of LA using phospholipids dependent tests for coagulation such as dilute Russel Viper Test (dVRRT) , Kaolin clotting time (KCT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT).

Johannesburg

South Africa