Title

Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia-related diseases or chance association?

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Blood coagulation & fibrinolysis : an international journal in haemostasis and thrombosis

Abstract

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) are thrombotic disorders due to specific autoimmune-mediated antibodies. Catastrophic APS (CAPS), also known as Asherman's syndrome, is a life-threatening severe form of APS. Diagnostic criteria for CAPS include the development of a thrombotic event of three or more organs in less than a week with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies and microvascular thrombosis on histology. Thrombocytopenia is seen in more than 60% of cases of CAPS. HIT is a life-threatening disorder with the clinical presentation of thrombocytopenia and arterial or venous thrombosis in patients who develop antibodies to heparin and platelet factor 4 typically within 10 days after starting heparin treatment. Due to the multiple similarities in clinical features and pathophysiology of CAPS and HIT, it has been postulated that these two antibody-mediated disorders may be related. We report two cases in which patients diagnosed with CAPS developed HIT very soon during the same admission as well as a case of a patient initially diagnosed with HIT who presented with CAPS years later.

First Page

214

Last Page

9

DOI

10.1097/MBC.0000000000000210

Publication Date

3-1-2015

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