Concise reports
Thrombocytopenia in the antiphospholipid syndrome
a Sección de
Reumatologia, Hospital "Reina Sofia", Cordoba, Spain
, b Lupus Arthritis
Research Unit, The Rayne Institute, St Thomas's Hospital, London
, c Departamento de Biostadistica, Facultad de
Medicina, Universidad de Cordoba, Spain
Correspondence to: Dr Munther A Khamashta, Lupus Research Unit, The Rayne Institute, St Thomas's Hospital, London SE1 7EH.
Accepted for publication 26 November 1996
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of
thrombocytopenia in a group of patients suffering from the
antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and to investigate whether these
patients may have any particular clinical or serological features.
METHODSRetrospective analysis. A group of 171 APS
patients seen in our department were studied for the presence of
thrombocytopenia. Clinical and serological features of these patients
were analysed by standard methods and each of them was correlated to
the presence of thrombocytopenia and compared with those found in the
group without thrombocytopenia.
RESULTSEach of the patients studied had a minimum
of three platelet counts during the follow up period. Forty (23.4%)
were found to have thrombocytopenia; 13 with persistently low and 27 patients with intermittently low platelet counts. There were no
statistically significant differences in sex, age, disease duration or
diagnosis when compared with the group of APS patients without
thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia was associated with thrombosis in
18, with miscarriages in five, and with both of these features in 13 patients. It was the only manifestation of the APS in four patients.
All patients had persistently positive tests for antiphospholipid
antibodies concomitantly with the low platelet counts. No significant
association was found between the presence of thrombocytopenia and
clinical or serological manifestations in APS patients.
CONCLUSIONThis study showed a prevalence of
thrombocytopenia of 23.4% in APS. These patients did not present any
significant clinical or serological features that distinguish them from
those patients without thrombocytopenia.
© 1997 by Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
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