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Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) may have arterial and venous thrombosis and, according to the limited and controversial data available, may have an increased incidence of pregnancy losses.1 These observations preceded the definition of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) as the association of thrombosis and pregnancy loss with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), and did not focus on patients with SSc. However, the association of thrombosis and aPL, detected as lupus anticoagulant (LAC) and/or anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), although rare, was described in SSc,2 supporting the possible existence of a “secondary” APS in SSc.3
In view of the fact that most aCL are directed to β2 glycoprotein I (aβ2GPI),4 the possibility that patients with APS may be negative for aCL, but positive for aβ2GPI,5 and considering the scarcity …