Anticardiolipin antibodies, recurrent stroke and vascular events: a prospective study on 210 patients.

The presence of anticadiolipin antibodies (aCL) has been associated with vascular occlusive events. However, the role of aCL in predicting ischemic events, particularly ischemic stroke, is controversial. In order to determine if aCL is either associated with thrombotic disease or with an increased risk of recurrent stroke or thrombotic events, we performed a prospective study on a cohort of Romanian patients with stroke that were tested for aCL. We studied the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in the two subgroups (aCL positive or aCL negative) considering the age of patients and the medical evolution in the first 12 months after the index stroke. Globally, neither the antecedents of thrombotic events or abortions, nor the clinical or biological profile or the recurrence of vascular events showed any significant difference between the group with or without aCL. Only in two patients the criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome were fulfilled. In 37% of cases, there was a variability of aCL positive titers at 8 weeks after the index event. This raised the necessity to isolate a subpopulation with higher risk of ischemia in the presence of aCL, and the need of more specific subtypes of antiphospholipid antibodies as a marker of thrombophilia.