Anticardiolipin Antibodies in Pregnant Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

To the Editor: There has recently been an increase in recognition of the association between anticardiolipin antibodies and the “lupus anticoagulant” phenomenon (which these antibodies are believed to cause) and an increased risk of fetal morbidity and mortality. In an article in the July 18 issue,¹ Lockshin et al. confirmed this association in pregnant patients with lupus. They also asserted that the anticardiolipin assay is a more sensitive test than the lupus-anticoagulant assay, since half their patients with anticardiolipin antibodies had no demonstrable lupus anticoagulant. In the course of our own investigations of anticardiolipin antibodies, we have found that the.