title: The prevalence and clinical associations of the lupus anticoagulant in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: To determine the prevalence and clinical associations of the lupus anticoagulant (LAC) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we studied 74 patients with SLE, 6 with lupus-like disease and a heterogeneous group of 45 patients with various autoimmune diseases. LAC was demonstrated in 19 SLE patients (26%), 5 patients with lupus-like disease (83%) and in none of the other patients. Statistically significant associations were found between LAC and a history of thromboembolic events (p less than 0.001), fetal loss (p less than 0.001), thrombocytopenia (p less than 0.01), biologically false-positive VDRL test (p less than 0.02) and convulsions (p less than 0.05). A negative correlation was found between LAC and a history of butterfly rash (p less than 0.01) and the presence of antibodies against extractable nuclear antigen (p less than 0.01). No significant difference was found between LAC-negative SLE patients and patients with other autoimmune diseases with respect to the prevalence of thromboembolic events or fetal loss. We conclude that LAC is a useful marker to identify a subset of patients with SLE or lupus-like disease at risk of thromboembolic events, fetal wastage, and thrombocytopenia.
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000276:immunology; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000276:immunology; D001779:Blood Coagulation Factors / Q000276:immunology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016682:Lupus Coagulation Inhibitor; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000276:immunology; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000276:immunology; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001779:Blood Coagulation Factors; D016682:Lupus Coagulation Inhibitor; D004247:DNA