1996 Volume 37 Issue 11 Pages 1283-1288
A 38-year-old female was admitted to our hospital because of pancytopenia in April 1992. She was diagnosed as aplastic anemia by bone marrow biopsy and other examinations. Then she was treated with methyl-prednisolone pulse therapy followed by administration of ciclosporin in out-patient clinic. Though the modest improvement of peripheral blood count was observed, the worsening of pancytopenia was developed in association with tapering of ciclosporin. Anabolic steroid was given from June 1994 and gradual improvement of peripheral blood count was observed. On June 1995, she developed sudden onset of swelling and discoloration of a lower extremity, and thrombosis in the femoral vein was detected by Doppler ultrasonography. She was positive for lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibody, thus a diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome was made. Aplastic anemia associated with antiphospholipid syndrome has never been reported as far as we know. This case will be of importance for analyzing the cause of thrombosis in aplastic anemia.