Table 1.
Clinical and immunological characteristics of APS patients, "aPL carriers", and CTR patients
| APS | "aPL carriers" | CTR | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total patients | 18 | 24 | 18 |
| Female–male sex | 13–5 | 23–1 | 8–10 |
| Age (years, mean ± SD) | 50 ± 13.8 | 46.4 ± 16.4 | 74 ± 12.5 |
| Disease duration (years, mean ± SD) | 7.6 ± 7.7 | – | – |
| Primary–secondary forms | 12–6 | 17–7 | – |
| Arterial/venous thrombosis | 16/18 (88.9) | – | 9 (50.0) |
| Pregnancy morbidity | 3/13 (23.1) | – | – |
| Atrial fibrillation | – | – | 6 (33.3) |
| Mechanical heart valves | – | – | 3 (16.7) |
| Arterial hypertension | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| LAC positivity | 5/18 (27.8) | 5/24 (20.8) | – |
| ACL IgG positivity | 4/18 (22.2) | 9/24 (37.5) | – |
| ACL IgM positivity | 9/18 (50.0) | 5/24 (20.8) | – |
| Anti-b2GPI IgG positivity | 5/18 (27.8) | 8/24 (33.3) | – |
| Anti-b2GPI IgM positivity | 8/18 (44.4) | 12/24 (50.0) | – |
| Single positivitya | 10/18 (55.5) | 13/24 (54.1) | – |
| Double positivityb | 5/18 (27.8) | 10/24 (41.7) | – |
| Triple positivityc | 3/18 (16.7) | 1/24 (4.2) | – |
APS antiphospholipid syndrome, aPL antiphospholipid antibodies, CTR control, SD standard deviation, LAC lupus anticoagulant, ACL anticardiolipin antibodies, anti-b2GPI antibeta2 glycoprotein I antibodies
aSingle positivity is defined as the positivity of only one between LAC, ACL IgG/M, and anti-b2GPI IgG/M
bDouble positivity is defined as the positivity of two between LAC, ACL IgG/M, and anti-b2GPI IgG/M, variously mixed
cTriple positivity is defined as the positivity of three between LAC, ACL IgG/M, and anti-b2GPI IgG/M, variously mixed