A report on the First International Workshop for Lupus Anticoagulant Identification

Recognition that the lupus anticoagulant (LA) is associated with an increased risk for arterial and venous thrombosis, recurrent spontaneous abortions and fetal loss has led to increased laboratory requests for identification of LA. It is of interest not only to laboratory medicine and obstetrics but also to rheumatology, neurology and cardiology. Due to the antibody's heterogeneous expression, no single test confirms its presence. Recent criteria for LA identification include the performance of one or more screening tests to demonstrate LA interference with phospholipid-dependent tests, differential studies to determine the presence of an inhibitor, and confirmatory procedures to prove that the inhibitor is phospholipid dependent. An international workshop was conducted to study a panel of tests for LA identification and to select those most helpful for diagnosis.