Obstetric significance of cardiolipin antibodies in subjects without systemic lupus erythematosus

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Abstract
Summary Forty consecutive cardiolipin antibody positive sera were identified and the case notes of the corresponding patients reviewed. Thirteen of these patients were females without systemic lupus erythematosus who had been pregnant at least once. Five (38 per cent) of them had had proteinuric pre-eclampsia in first pregnancy. There was also a high frequency of history of miscarriage in these patients. A review of their known clinical and laboratory features failed to reveal characteristics which could be confidently used to predict cardiolipin antibody positivity in apparently healthy patients, and we suggest that routine antenatal screening for cardiolipin antibodies may be justified.