RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Catastrophic cerebral antiphospholipid syndrome presenting as cerebral infarction with haemorrhagic transformation after sudden withdrawal of warfarin in a patient with primary antiphospholipid syndrome
JF BMJ Case Reports
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP bcr0920092243
DO 10.1136/bcr.09.2009.2243
VO 2010
A1 Abdul Majid Wani
A1 Waleed Mohd Hussain
A1 Mousa Ali Al Mejally
A1 Khaled Shawkat Ali
A1 Sadeya Hanif Raja
A1 Wael Al Maimani
A1 Mazen G Bafaraj
A1 Ashraf Bashraheel
A1 Mubeena Akhtar
A1 Amer Mohd Khoujah
YR 2010
UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2010/bcr.09.2009.2243.abstract
AB Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is caused by thrombotic vascular occlusions that affect both small and large vessels, producing ischaemia in the affected organs. The “catastrophic” variant of the antiphospholipid syndrome (cAPS) develops over a short period of time. Although patients with cAPS represent <1% of all patients with APS, they are usually life threatening with a 50% mortality rate. A strong association with concomitant infection is thought to act as the main trigger of microthromboses in cAPS. Several theories have been proposed to explain these physiopathological features. Some of them suggest the possibility of molecular mimicry between components of infectious microorganisms and natural anticoagulants, which might be involved in the production of cross-reacting antiphospholipid antibodies. We present a case of catastrophic cerebral APS characterised by massive temporal lobe infarction and subsequent haemorrhagic transformation after sudden withdrawal of warfarin.