Impaired ankle-brachial index in antiphospholipid syndrome: Beyond the traditional risk factors.

INTRODUCTION

The patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) associate an increased risk of atherosclerosis.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the predictors of an abnormal ankle-brachial index (ABI), surrogate measure of atherosclerosis, in patients with APS.

METHODS

The ABI was measured according to standard recommendations in 106 patients. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors were assessed in all cases. A large spectrum of APS antibodies was determined in 73 patients.

RESULTS

A total of 106 patients diagnosed with APS were included. 28.3% patients included were found to have low ABI. Anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I (aβ2GPI) IgG antibodies [4.00 (1.00-79.00) vs 3.00 (0.00-29.00) U/mL, P = 0.02] and antiprothrombin (aPT) IgM antibodies [4.50 (0.00-82.00) vs 3.00 (0.00-14.00) U/mL, P = 0.05] titers were found to be higher in patients with abnormal ABI. However, after multivariate regression analysis, only the aβ2GPI IgG titer remained predictor of low ABI (P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

aβ2GPI IgG associated with impaired ABI in patients with APS. This relation might reflect their involvement in the atherosclerosis occurrence.