European Forum On Antiphospholipid Antibodies: brief history report and governance document

The European Forum on Antiphospholipid Antibodies was conceived as a multidisciplinary network of different specialists working in the fields of internal medicine, haematology, rheumatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, neurology, paediatrics, cardiology and immunology, among others, that share a common interest in these antibodies and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Centres with very good clinical practice in APS and with large cohorts of patients could join other centres with better research experience, thus allowing the study of basic patho-mechanisms in large series of patients. In addition, the specialists would be able to compare their cohorts of patients, which, being as they are recruited in very different fields of medicine, could enlighten the different aspects of APS. Finally, continuous comparison of patients' data suggested that even the laboratory diagnostic procedures needed collaborative work in order to make reproducible results, at least of the classical tests--lupus anticoagulant (LA), anticardiolipin antibodies (aCLas) and anti β(2)-glycoprotein I antibodies (anti-β(2)GPIs)--and of the consequent clinical diagnosis in different centres. In this way, the wide exchange of information could also favour the introduction and evaluation of new tests.