Prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies in Syrian patients with thrombosis

Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are a heterogeneous family of antibodies associated with thrombosis and other complications.

To study the prevalence of aPL in patients with thrombosis at Aleppo University Hospitals, Syria.

One hundred and fifty-seven patients with venous and arterial thrombosis and 63 healthy controls were studied. Anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and Lupus anticoagulant (LA) were determined.

Thirty-four out of 157 (21.7%) patients with thrombosis had some type of aPL. aPL was also found in four healthy subjects (4/63=6.3%). Eighteen patients (11.5%) were positive for LA, 20 (12.7%) for aCL antibodies and 4 (2.6%) were positive for more than one aPL. Patients without risk factors for thrombosis and having positive aPL were 23/34 (67.7%). Fourteen out of 78 (17.9%) patients with arterial thrombosis, and 20/79 (25.3%) with venous thrombosis were positive for at least one aPL.

Our study showed a significant prevalence of aPL in patients with thrombosis. It seems that aPL is a risk factor for venous and arterial thrombosis, especially in patients with no conventional risk factors.