Antiphospholipid antibodies are essential in the diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), or the classic “Hughes syndrome,” which is a systemic disorder that is autoimmune in nature. They are also found in various infections in low titers without any evidence of thrombotic manifestations of APS. However, in a few infections, when antiphospholipid antibodies are associated with protein cofactor, there can be associated thrombosis. Different infections are also responsible for triggering a subset of lethal APS, acute catastrophic APS. This situation requires prompt diagnosis and aggressive treatment of the infection to prevent severe complications.
aDavid Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
bUniversity of California Irvine Medical Center, Bld. 200, Suite 512, Route 81, Orange, CA 92868-3298, USA
cStanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
dDepartment of Family Medicine, Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, CA, USA
1111 Columbus Street, Suite 1200, Bakersfield, CA 93305.
ABSTRACT