title: Pregnancy and puerperium are high susceptibility periods for the development of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome.
abstract: It is well known that antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is associated with recurrent pregnancies losses, but is also associated with other obstetric features such as preeclampsia, uteroplacental insufficiency and preterm birth. Pregnancy is a hypercoagulable state than can be complicated by thrombosis, especially in those patients with an underlying thrombophilic disorder. Catastrophic APS is a rare form of presentation of the APS. Several trigger factors have been related with the catastrophic APS, including infections, anticoagulation withdrawal, surgery, neoplasms and lupus "flares". In around 6% of the cases, the catastrophic APS can appear during pregnancy or puerperium. We review this specific subset of the catastrophic APS and propose a therapeutical approach for this particular situation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Autoimmune Diseases, Institut Clínic de Medicina i Dermatología, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gómez-Puerta
authors.forename: Ricard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cervera
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Espinosa
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bucciarelli
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Font
mesh_terms: D016736:Antiphospholipid Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D002388:Catastrophic Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011250:Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*