clinical features
Last reviewed 01/2018
Due to the diversity of the condition antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) may affect all organ systems of the body.
The clinical features are presented according to the systems affected:
- thrombosis
- venous thrombosis and associated complications
- is more common than arterial thrombosis
- in a cohort of 1000 patients, 32% presented with deep vein thrombosis in the leg as the initial symptom while in 14%, pulmonary embolism was the first symptom
- renal, hepatic, subclavian and retinal veins; cerebral sinuses and vena cava are also at a higher risk for thrombotic events when compared to thrombosis not related antiphospholipid syndrome
- arterial thrombosis
- most common initial clinical manifestations are stroke (in 13%) and transient ischemic attack (in 7%)
- recurrent thrombosis
- cerebral involvement
- is common and include - cerebral ischemia, migraine, cognitive dysfunction, seizures, chorea, psychosis, depression, Guillain-Barre syndrome
- a link between valvular heart disease and CNS manifestations of the syndrome has been reported
- cardiac manifestations
- non bacterial thrombotic endocarditis
- myocardial infarction
- renal manifestations
- due to thrombosis of the renal vasculature, rapid decline of the renal function can occur
- haematological manifestation
- thrombocytopaenia
- haemolytic anaemia
- dermal symptoms e.g. - lividoreticularis
- maternal and fetal effects
- recurrent early miscarriages
- intrauterine fetal death
- early or severe pre-eclampsia (or both)
- intrauterine growth restriction (1)
- endocrine
- dermatological
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