Lupus anticoagulant syndrome: case report.

Abstract

A twenty seven year old female was referred to our department with deep vein thrombosis, abnormal activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) ratio 1:60 and prothrombin time (PT) INR of 3:11. She had history of loss of pregnancies previously. Coagulation tests with pooled normal fresh plasma did not correct a PTT because of a coagulation inhibitor and only partially corrected PT. Kaolin clotting time (KCT) of patient plasma (PP) and a mixture of PP/normal plasma (NP) detected the lupus anticoagulant (LA). Venereal Disease Laboratory (VDRL) test on the patient's serum was positive with low titre 1:8 while Treponema Pallidum haemaglutination test (TPHA) was negative. Anticardiolipin antibodies IgG were raised while IgM levels were within normal levels. This was a case of lupus anticoagulant syndrome. The patient was treated with unfractionated heparin and warfarin and later started on salicylates and prednisone.