Comparative study of obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome (OAPS) and non-criteria obstetric APS (NC-OAPS): report of 1640 cases from the EUROAPS registry.

OBJECTIVES: To compare clinical features, laboratory data and fetal-maternal outcomes between 1000 women with obstetric APS (OAPS) and 640 with aPL-related obstetric complications not fulfilling Sydney criteria (non-criteria OAPS, NC-OAPS). METHODS: This was a retrospective and prospective multicentre study from the European Registry on Obstetric Antiphospholipid Syndrome. RESULTS: A total of 1650 women with 5251 episodes, 3601 of which were historical and 1650 latest episodes, were included. Altogether, 1000 cases (OAPS group) fulfilled the Sydney classification criteria and 650 (NC-OAPS group) did not. Ten NC-OAPS cases were excluded for presenting thrombosis during follow-up. All cases were classified as category I (triple positivity or double positivity for aPL) or category II (simple positivity). Overall, aPL laboratory categories showed significant differences: 29.20% in OAPS vs 17.96% in NC-OAPS (P < 0.0001) for category I, and 70.8% in OAPS vs 82% in NC-OAPS (P < 0.0001) for category II. Significant differences were observed when current obstetric complications were compared (P < 0.001). However, major differences between groups were not observed in treatment rates, livebirths and thrombotic complications. In the NC-OAPS group, 176/640 (27.5%) did not fulfil Sydney clinical criteria (subgroup A), 175/640 (27.34%) had a low titre and/or non-persistent aPL positivity but did meet the clinical criteria (subgroup B) and 289/640 (45.15%) had a high aPL titre but did not fulfil Sydney clinical criteria (subgroup C). CONCLUSION: Significant clinical and laboratory differences were found between groups. Fetal-maternal outcomes were similar in both groups when treated. These results suggest that we could improve our clinical practice with better understanding of NC-OAPS patients.

The European Registry on Obstetric Antiphospholipid Syndrome (EUROAPS): A survey of 1000 consecutive cases.

AIM: To analyse the clinical features, laboratory data and foetal-maternal outcomes, and follow them up on a cohort of 1000 women with obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome (OAPS). METHODS: The European Registry of OAPS became a registry within the framework of the European Forum on Antiphospholipid Antibody projects and was placed on a website in June 2010. Thirty hospitals throughout Europe have collaborated to carry out this registry. Cases with obstetric complaints related to antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) who tested positive for aPL at least twice were included prospectively and retrospectively. The seven-year survey results are reported. RESULTS: 1000 women with 3553 episodes were included of which 2553 were historical and 1000 were latest episodes. All cases fulfilled the Sydney classification criteria. According to the laboratory categories, 292 (29.2%) were in category I, 357 (35.7%) in IIa, 224 (22.4%) in IIb and 127 (12.7%) in IIc. Miscarriages were the most prevalent clinical manifestation in 386 cases (38.6%). Moreover, the presence of early preeclampsia (PE) and early foetal growth restriction (FGR) appeared in 181 (18.1%) and 161 (16.1%), respectively. In this series, 448 (44.8%) women received the recommended OAPS treatment. Patients with recommended treatment had a good live-birth rate (85%), but worse results (72.4%) were obtained in patients with any treatment (low-dose aspirin (LDA) or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) not on recommended schedule, while patients with no treatment showed a poor birth rate (49.6%). CONCLUSION: In this series, recurrent miscarriage is the most frequent poor outcome. To avoid false-negative diagnoses, all laboratory category subsets were needed. OAPS cases have very good foetal-maternal outcomes when treated. Results suggest that we were able to improve our clinical practice to offer better treatment and outcomes to OAPS patients.