Objectives: There is a limited number of studies comparing paediatric to adult antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patients. Our objective was to analyse the characteristics of patients presenting with antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)-related clinical manifestations during childhood versus adulthood. Methods: We retrieved baseline characteristics from an international registry of persistently aPL-positive adult patients. Clinical events were grouped as vascular and non-vascular. We compared the frequency of and the timeline between vascular and non-vascular events for different age groups at the time of their first aPL-related manifestations: a) paediatric- (0-17 years) versus adult-onset (18-75 years); and b) based on narrower age intervals. Secondly, we analysed the timeline between the first aPL-related clinical event and first aPL positivity. Results: Of 787 patients, 447 (57%) had only vascular events, 108 (14%) only non-vascular events, and 232 (29%) both. Compared to adult-onset patients (n=742), paediatric-onset patients (n=45) presented more commonly with a non-vascular event (49% vs. 19%, p=0.0001). The percentage of patients presenting with a non-vascular event mostly decreased with each increasing age group. Timeline analysis demonstrated 317 (40%) patients had a positive aPL test within the same calendar year (c-y) of the first clinical event, 207 (26%) within 1 to 3 c-y, and 263 (33%) more than 3 c-y. Conclusions: Our analysis of an international registry for persistently aPL-positive patients demonstrates that patients with paediatric-onset aPL-related manifestations more commonly present with non-vascular events. These results highlight the importance of understanding the clinical differences between paediatric and adult APS patients, which have diagnostic, therapeutic, and research implications.
Antiphospholipid antibody-related clinical manifestations during childhood versus adulthood: descriptive results from the AntiPhospholipid Syndrome Alliance for Clinical Trials and InternatiOnal Networking (APS ACTION) clinical database and repository
de Andrade, Danieli Castro Oliveira;Sciascia, Savino;Radin, Massimo;
2025-01-01
Abstract
Objectives: There is a limited number of studies comparing paediatric to adult antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patients. Our objective was to analyse the characteristics of patients presenting with antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)-related clinical manifestations during childhood versus adulthood. Methods: We retrieved baseline characteristics from an international registry of persistently aPL-positive adult patients. Clinical events were grouped as vascular and non-vascular. We compared the frequency of and the timeline between vascular and non-vascular events for different age groups at the time of their first aPL-related manifestations: a) paediatric- (0-17 years) versus adult-onset (18-75 years); and b) based on narrower age intervals. Secondly, we analysed the timeline between the first aPL-related clinical event and first aPL positivity. Results: Of 787 patients, 447 (57%) had only vascular events, 108 (14%) only non-vascular events, and 232 (29%) both. Compared to adult-onset patients (n=742), paediatric-onset patients (n=45) presented more commonly with a non-vascular event (49% vs. 19%, p=0.0001). The percentage of patients presenting with a non-vascular event mostly decreased with each increasing age group. Timeline analysis demonstrated 317 (40%) patients had a positive aPL test within the same calendar year (c-y) of the first clinical event, 207 (26%) within 1 to 3 c-y, and 263 (33%) more than 3 c-y. Conclusions: Our analysis of an international registry for persistently aPL-positive patients demonstrates that patients with paediatric-onset aPL-related manifestations more commonly present with non-vascular events. These results highlight the importance of understanding the clinical differences between paediatric and adult APS patients, which have diagnostic, therapeutic, and research implications.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.



