Lupus anticoagulant associated with specific inhibition of factor VII in a patient with AIDS

A 37-year-old intravenous drug abuser with acquired immune deficiency syndrome showed elevated activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time, normal thrombin time and fibrinogen, and borderline low platelet counts. The patient subsequently had a fracture of the left zygomatic arch, which did not produce uncontrollable bleeding. The coagulogram repeated at this admission showed persistent elevation of APTT. Further coagulation workup showed the presence of a lupus anticoagulant with mild specific inhibition of Factor VII. Platelet aggregation and Factor II levels were normal.