The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and the performance of @entity4555 ( @entity4555 ) tests in a heterogeneous group of @entity1 and to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics, patterns of referral, clinical manifestations and outcomes among these @entity1 . The medical charts of 725 @entity1 referred to a central coagulation laboratory during a 12-month period for @entity4555 were reviewed. The data collected included demographic characteristics, the specialty of the referring physicians, the clinical indications for ordering the test, and the influence of the test results on the diagnosis and the treatment approach. Special attention was paid to identifying clinical manifestations known to be associated with antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA). A positive test was defined by abnormal results obtained by at least two techniques from the reagents used and confirmed by a platelet-neutralising procedure. Chi(2) and t-tests were used for independent samples. Fifty-six @entity1 (7.7%) were found to have @entity4555 . Rheumatologists and gynaecologists emerged as the major contributors to this group. The presence of @entity4555 was significantly associated only with @entity1252 and @entity882 . The number of @entity1 treated with antiaggregants or anticoagulants tripled following the test results. A positive dRVVT test strongly correlated with elevated anticardiolipin antibodies. We concluded that @entity4555 tests are ordered by a variety of physicians but yield better results when ordered by rheumatologists and gynaecologists. In this heterogeneous cohort, it was most useful in the investigation of @entity882 and suggests a pathogenetic role in this condition. The dRVVT test correlates most closely with elevated anticardiolipin antibodies.

Antiphospholipid antibodies in a heterogeneous group of XXXX : experience from a central laboratory.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity4555 :: ('MESH:C531622', 'Disease') :: ['lupus anticoagulant', 'LA'] @entity1252 :: ('MESH:D008180', 'Disease') :: ['systemic lupus erythematosus'] @entity882 :: ('MESH:D013921', 'Disease') :: ['thrombocytopenia']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['patients']
