[The incidence of the antiphospholipid syndrome in the clinical and biological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus].

In the present investigation a study was made on the incidence of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) on clinical and biological manifestations in a series or 32 patients (28 females and 4 males with a mean age of 25 years) diagnosed of SLE (ARA criteria) and APS (Harris criteria) compared with a group of 25 patients (19 females and 6 males with a mean age of 38 years) diagnosed of SLE without APS. This entails a selection from 124 patients diagnosed of SLE, and an incidence of 25.8% and 9.7% for ACA and LA, respectively. After a clinical protocol was filled, a complete immunological profile was obtained, with lymphocyte subsets, IL-2 receptor, coagulation study, isotype determination for anticardiolipin antibody (ACA), lupus anticoagulant (LA), serology for syphilis and imaging diagnostic techniques. Comparative results, with an statistic assessment, are shown in tables. It is concluded that SLE + APS population can be considered as definite for a peculiar SLE subtype.