A case of systemic lupus erythematosus with abdominal aortic occulusion probably due to the presence of lupus anticoagulant

Abstract

A 49-year old woman who had been diagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at the age of 28 years (in 1968) began to complain of bilateral intermittent claudication in 1986. Translumbar abdominal aortography performed in 1989 demonstrated an occulusion of the abdominal aorta just below the renal arteries. Since the symptom gradually deteriorated despite of the warfarin therapy, thromboendoarterectomy and aorto-rt. femoral and lt. iliac bypass formation with synthetic Y graft was performed in 1990, which resulted in relief from the symptom. She was found to have lupus anticoagulant (LAC) and anti-cardiolipin antibodies (ACA) which were considered to be associated with the development of thrombosis in the abdominal aorta. This was an unusual case in that LAC and ACA were involved in the formation of thrombus in a large vessel.