Primary antiphospholipid syndrome and self-limited renal vasculitis during pregnancy: case report and review of the literature.

A case of self-limited renal vasculitis during pregnancy in a patient with a history of recurrent fetal loss and with a positive cardiolipin immunoglobulin G antibody test is described. The renal disease manifested as an acute renal failure in the second trimester of the patient's third pregnancy, concurrent with severe pre-eclampsia. Vasculitis is a rare manifestation of antiphospholipid syndrome that has been described mostly in peripheral arteries. Renal vasculitis, however, has not yet been reported in association with this syndrome. The full spectrum of renal involvement in antiphospholipid syndrome is presently being determined, and we suggest that renal vasculitis be included in that spectrum.