• J M Provenzale, E R Heinz, T L Ortel, B G Macik, L A Charles, and M J Alberts.
• Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
• Radiology. 1994 Aug 1;192(2):531-7.

PurposeTo study neuroradiologic findings in patients with hypercoagulability due to antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs).Materials And MethodsRetrospective review of abnormal angiographic, computed tomographic, and magnetic resonance imaging findings was performed over a 14-month period in patients with APAs, no diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus, age less than 65 years, and no other cause of a hypercoagulable state.ResultsFourteen patients (age range, 22-62 years) with APAs had abnormal results at neuroradiologic examination. Abnormal findings on cross-sectional imaging studies included large-artery (n = 3), lacunar (n = 5), and venous infarctions (n = 2); cortical atrophy (n = 5); white matter abnormalities (n = 3); and dural sinus thrombosis (n = 4). Abnormal angiographic findings included large-artery occlusions (n = 2), arterial narrowing that simulated vasculitis (n = 2), and transverse sinus thrombosis (n = 1).ConclusionPresence of APAs should be suspected when no cause is apparent for either (a) an ischemic cerebrovascular event in young and middle-aged adults or (b) dural sinus or cerebral venous thrombosis (c) in patients with recurrent systemic arterial or venous thromboses, especially women with recurrent miscarriages.

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