The lupus anticoagulant and retinal vaso-occlusive disease

A patient with a history of hypertension had a combined central retinal artery and vein occlusion in one eye. She had markedly elevated coagulation profiles, especially the partial thromboplastin time, secondary to circulating lupus anticoagulant. Due to the asymmetric involvement, the presence of the anticoagulant, and the lack of any other signs of retinopathy, we believed that the etiology was thrombotic rather than vasculitic. Detection and measurement of the lupus anticoagulant could serve as a marker of disease and in the assessment of disease activity in the follow-up of these patients.