Clinical case of successful treatment of a patient with critical lower limb ischemia as a late onset of antiphospholipid syndrome

The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is characterized by non-inflammatory thrombotic vasculopathy with lesions of vessels of all types and localization. That is why clinical manifestations of APS are varied and patients turn to various physicians. The article describes a clinical case of a critical lower limb ischemia in AP. A 62 y. o. female patient was under outpatient observation for two years with the clinic of intermittent claudication and a diagnosis of atherosclerosis of lower limb arteries. At the same time, a history of thrombosis of the splenic artery — atypical for atherosclerosis, laboratory phenomena: a false-positive Wassermann reaction and an elongation of the phospholipid-dependent test (APTT) indicated APS. The patient was admitted into Department of Vascular Surgery of the Republic Clinical Hospital with critical lower limb ischemia and a threat of amputation. Antiphospholipid antibodies were detected. Due to the therapy pathogenetic for APS, amputation of the lower extremity was avoided. The presented clinical case shows that the APS may occur in people older than 60, and physicians of all specialties should be alert to this diagnosis.