[Clinical analysis of anti-cardiolipin antibody positive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

We have analyzed the relationship between anti-cardiolipin antibody titer and manifestations in 68 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 25 patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS), 37 patients with Sjögren's syndrome and 16 patients with anaphylactoid purpura. Elevated anti-cardiolipin antibody titer was observed in SLE and Sjögren's syndrome. Clinical manifestations correlated with elevated anti-cardiolipin antibody titer included discoid lesion, thrombotic lesion, thrombocytopenia, elevated titer of ds-DNA antibodies, lower serum CPK level, and liver dysfunctions. Anti-cardiolipin antibody titer also correlated with the score of diagnostic criteria for SLE and the history of corticosteroid therapy. These results suggested that anti-cardiolipin antibody positive SLE patients are much more prone to develop thrombotic lesions and that cell bound antibody might play some role for the induction of vascular injury and thrombocytopenia in SLE.