Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are detected in a variety of autoimmune disorders, most commonly systemic lupus erythematosus, but also in some infectious diseases, lymphoproliferative disorders, and even in apparently healthy people.

Although a wide prevalence of aPL in systemic sclerosis has been reported (between 0 and 41%), most studies have focused on anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and very little is known about other aPL in this disease. We determined the prevalence and clinical significance of aCL, antibodies to β₂-glycoprotein I (anti-β₂GPI), and antibodies to phosphatidylserine-prothrombin complex (aPS-PT) in 25 patients with scleroderma (18 with limited and 7 with diffuse scleroderma, as defined by LeRoy et al¹) (table 1⇓). Twenty four patients were female (median age 50 years (range 28–70), median disease duration 3 years (range 1–20)). …