oagulation abnormalities are commonly encountered in critically ill patients. Thus, intensivists are often challenged by the finding of prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) in the setting of a normal international normalize ratio (INR). Potential causes of this presentation include heparin, a specific coagulation factor inhibitor, or a non-specific inhibitor, also known as a l...

The lupus anticoagulant was found in the plasma of 31 of 60 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and other connective tissue disorders (mixed connective tissue disease, systemic vasculitis, polyarteritis nodosa, primary sicca syndrome, discoid lupus, Behcet's syndrome, and systemic sclerosis). Strong associations were found with biological false positive seroreaction for syphilis and thro...

Antiphospholipid syndrome spans many medical disciplines. Classic criteria include the presence of anticardiolipin antibody or lupus anticoagulant with typical complications of thrombosis or pregnancy loss. Other common associated manifestations include livedo reticularis, thrombocytopenia, valvular heart disease, and nephropathy with renal insufficiency, hypertension, and proteinuria. Treatmen...

References 1. Levine SR, Welch KMA: Cerebrovascular ischemia associated with lupus anticoagulant. Stroke 1987; 18:257-263 2. Levine SR, Welch KMA: The spectrum of neurological disease associated with antiphospholipid antibodies: Lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies. Arch Neurol 1987;44: 876-883 3. Levine SR, Welch KMA: Antiphospholipid antibodies. Ann Neurol 1989;26:386-389 4. Ya...

A 39-year-old woman presented with a right-hemispheric stroke 1 year after she had suffered a left-hemispheric stroke. Her diagnostic workup was notable for bilateral occlusions of the internal carotid arteries at their origins and a positive lupus anticoagulant antibody test. There was no evidence of carotid dissection or another identifiable cause for her carotid occlusions. These findings su...

Although observations have implied that lupus anticoagulants have immunologic specificity toward anionic phospholipids, this assumption has been directly demonstrated in only one patient with a monoclonal IgM paraprotein. We tested the generality of this hypothesis directly by isolating five IgG lupus anticoagulants from patients with lupuslike syndromes and/or thrombosis. IgG lupus anticoagula...

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune collagen vascular disease, which produces widespread damage to multiple organs. The spectrum of cardiac vascular involvement in young SLE is not elucidated completely. This report mainly describes a 27 year old girl with 20 year history of SLE presenting with both AMI (acute myocardial infarction) and PAH. Coronary angiography shows stenosis i...