The frequency and significance of anticardiolipin antibodies in scleroderma

Objective. To determine the frequency and significance of anticardiolipin a ntibodies (aCL) in scleroderma. Methods. We serially tested for aCL in a standardized fashion in patients w ith scleroderma who were outpatients and gave consent to enter this study. Results. Sixty-three patients participated in this study. Thirty-six had di ffuse scleroderma and 27 had limited scleroderma. Three (4.8%) were positiv e for aCL, of whom 2 had limited scleroderma. In only one patient aCL may h ave been clinically significant. This woman had limited scleroderma for yea rs and had medium vessel occlusive disease with gangrene eventually requiri ng midfoot amputations and chronic warfarin treatment. She did not have fea tures of systemic lupus erythematosus or other overlap conditions. The othe r 2 patients had no manifestations of the antiphospholipid antibody syndrom e. Conclusion. aCL in scleroderma rarely manifest clinically. The range of fre quency of positive aCL in the literature is from 0 to 63%. From our study a nd the literature, we cannot ascertain if the prevalence is different in Li mited and diffuse scleroderma.