Anticardiolipin syndrome, aspirin therapy and fetal malformation

A patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and elevated cardiolipin antibody levels was given low-dose aspirin therapy prior to and throughout her third pregnancy to minimize the risk of miscarriage. She delivered a boy at 38 weeks with the skeletal deformity of two thoracic hemivertebrae. The putative role of aspirin causing this birth defect is discussed.