Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome manifested as a postoperative cerebrovascular event in a child

Perioperative cerebrovascular events are exceedingly uncommon in pediatric patients. The etiology of such problems includes emboli from intracardiac t hrombi, sickle cell disease, vascular anomalies, vasculitis affecting the c erebral vasculature, and prothrombotic states. We describe a 6-year-old boy who had right-sided hemiparesis on the second postoperative day after an u neventful patch angioplasty for renal artery stenosis, Workup revealed a po ssible hypercoagulable state due to an anticardiolipin antibody, The pathog enesis of the anticardiolipin antibody syndrome, its clinical manifestation s, diagnostic criteria, and potential treatment strategies are reviewed.