Stroke in an Early Adolescent with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Coexistent Antiphospholipid Antibodies

Thromboembolic events in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are an occasional but significant occurrence. Cerebrovascular disease in adults with SLE has been well described.1-4 Antiphospholipid antibodies, such as lupus anticoagulant, an immunoglobulin directed against the platelet phospholipid component of the prothrombin activator complex, and the false-positive serologic tests for syphilis, which detect reaginic antibodies that react with the purified beef cardiolipin substrate of these assays, have been reported for a long time in association with these events.5-9 More recently, development of an assay for anticardiolipin antibodies, immunoglobulins directed against the phosphodiester group of negatively charged phospholipids, has led to wider exploration of this subset of antiphospholipid antibodies and their relation to thrombosis.10,11