Antiphospholipid syndrome: a survey of clinical characters in ten cases

To gain further understanding of the antiphospholipid syndrome(APS).

Analysing clinical and laboratory data on ten cases of APS.

Thrombocytopenia appeared in all cases. Venous thrombi of limbs appeared in five cases and neurological abnormalities in two cases. Renal impairments were found in three cases. One case manifested left renal venous thrombi and the other two cases thrombotic microangiopathy. Budd-Chiari syndrome was found in one case. One of the ten cases was catastrophic APS (CAPS) presented as acute diffuse swelling, cyanosis, pain, ischemia and necrosis in fingers and limbs, recurrent shock, ascites, hepatic and respiratory dysfunction. Anticoagulants and corticosteroids could be effective for dealing with APS. It was critical to treat catastrophic APS with anticoagulants or plasmapheresis as early as possible.

APS shows variable manifestations for good prognosis, but catastrophic APS has fatal risk. The main treatment for APS is the use of anticoagulants and immunosuppressives.