ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss the relationship between Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and platelets, both from a clinical standpoint and from the immunopathological point of view. They review the clinical association between aPL and the haemocytopenias, and also discuss the possible pathologic link between aPL and the processes of cellular destruction. M. Hazeltine and colleagues eluted anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) from the erythrocytes of a patient with a positive Coombs test in association with aCL. A positive Coombs test was a consistent feature and, as would be expected, a reduced haematocrit, as was a raised reticulocyte count at the time of active haemolysis. J. M. Durand and colleagues have reported the successful correction of thrombocytopenia in the context of the primary antiphospholipid syndrome with the intravenous immunoglobulin and immunomodulatory drugs in a 25-year-old woman. Although aPL is lymphopenia that is commonly observed in lupus, the best-documented association with aCL and leukocyte abnormalities is that of neutropenia.
