Location of recurrent cardiovascular events and anticardiolipin antibodies

Javier Galán-González1, Sergio Rico-Martín2, Julián F Calderón-García2

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital San Pedro Alcántara, Cáceres, Spain.

Insights

Anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies increase the risk of distal artery ischemic events, such as stroke or leg events, but not coronary artery events in patients with symptomatic artery disease.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Immunology
  • Vascular Biology

Background:

  • The link between anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies and cardiovascular events is not fully understood and may differ based on arterial location.
  • Previous research has yielded uncertain findings regarding the association between aCL antibodies and ischemic events.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between anticardiolipin antibodies and the risk of subsequent ischemic events in different arterial locations.
  • To determine if aCL antibodies are an independent risk factor for specific types of cardiovascular events.

Main Methods:

  • The study utilized data from the FRENA registry, an ongoing registry of stable outpatients with symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), or peripheral artery disease (PAD).
  • Researchers cross-referenced the rate of subsequent ischemic events with the presence of aCL antibodies (any isotype, IgG, or IgM).
  • Multivariate Cox analysis was performed to adjust for relevant clinical covariates.

Main Results:

  • Out of 1387 recruited patients, 120 (8.7%) had positive aCL antibody levels.
  • Patients with positive aCL antibodies showed a higher risk of distal artery events (ischemic stroke or critical leg events) compared to those with undetectable or low levels (rate ratio: 1.66).
  • Multivariate analysis confirmed that aCL antibody positivity is an independent risk factor for distal events (hazard ratio: 1.60; P < .05), but no association with coronary events was found.

Conclusions:

  • Anticardiolipin antibody positivity is linked to an increased risk of subsequent ischemic events in distal arteries (cerebral or leg arteries).
  • The study found no association between aCL antibodies and coronary artery events.
  • Anticardiolipin antibodies appear to have a differential impact on the location of ischemic events in patients with symptomatic artery disease.
Abstract

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