[Clinical spectrum of the antiphospholipid syndrome]

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is characterized by multiple arterial and venous thromboses, repeated spontaneous abortions and thrombocytopenia, together with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies in serum. We present three patients, two men and a woman, at the age of 43, 24 and 23 years respectively. The younger man and the woman had secondary APS and systemic lupus erythematosus, the older man had primary APS. The symptoms and course of the disease were different. The older man lives 17 years after the onset of first symptoms with multiple neurologic disorders, the younger man is symptomless. The woman died several months after the acute onset of the disease.