New insights into the management of antiphospholipid syndrome-related thrombosis

Abstract

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a clinical autoimmune disorder characterized by thrombosis, venous or arterial, and recurrent pregnancy morbidity in association with the persistence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs). The clinical variety of aPLs ranges from asymptomatic individuals to those with multiple organ thromboses and failure developing over a short period, also known as catastrophic APS. Warfarin is the best available, most effective treatment for the secondary prevention of recurrent thrombosis. However, there are still controversies in the duration of treatment and the intensity of anticoagulation. Recommendations for primary thrombosis prevention in asymptomatic aPL individuals vary from no treatment to low-dose aspirin. In some groups of patients with special clinical characteristics other therapies are used, such as immunosuppression. Recent publications based on in vivo animal models have shown that new therapeutic approaches can be effective in reversing pathogenic effects of autoimm...