[Cerebrovascular disorders associated with livedo (Sneddon's syndrome): its relation to lupus anticoagulant]

The clinical manifestations of Sneddon's syndrome (cerebrovascular disorder, livedo reticularis, peripheral venous thrombosis++, cardiac pathology, obstetric pathology--fetal loss and intrauterine fetal death) are characteristic of the antiphospholipid syndrome. A lupus anticoagulant (LA), one of the types of antiphospholipid antibodies, was detected in the blood plasma of 18 out of 30 patients with Sneddon's syndrome. The negative results of LA-examination in 12 patients don't exclude the presence of other antiphospholipid antibodies. So 16 of 30 patients had anticardiolipin antibodies, among them being 6 LA-negative patients. The authors discuss the significance of antiphospholipid antibodies in the genesis of vascular abnormalities in patients with Sneddon's syndrome.