Cardiovascular Disease in Antiphospholipid Syndrome.

Cardiovascular Disease in Antiphospholipid Syndrome. Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2019 Aug 29;: Authors: Polytarchou K, Varvarousis D, Manolis AS Abstract Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by venous, arterial or microvascular thrombosis or obstetrical events in the presence of persistently positive antiphospholipid antibodies and constitutes a major cause of cardiovascular events in young people. Τhis review aims to highlight the pathophysiology of cardiovascular complications in patients with APS and possible treatment options. Patients with APS have endothelial dysfunction, accelerated proliferation and hyperplasia, atherogenesis, platelet activation and aggregation, inflammatory products secretion and coagulation-fibrinolytic dysregulation. Cardiovascular complications constitute accelerated atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndrome, Libman- Sachs endocarditis, cardiomyopathy or intracardiac thombi. Moreover, pulmonary hypertension and peripheral microvascular dysfunction are common findings for these patients. Management of these patients is not well documented. The role of primary thrombosis prevention remains controversial in individuals with positive antiphospholipid antibodies. Treatment of traditional cardiovascular risk factors according to current guidelines for prevention of cardiovascular disease in the general population is recommended for primary prevention of APS. Anticoagulation t...
Source: Current Vascular Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Curr Vasc Pharmacol Source Type: research