Clinical haematology · UKMLA & AKT
Patient on anti-platelet therapy
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test, covering how to recognise this condition. The full SA Note notes add investigations, management and complications, with practice questions on this topic.
Key high-yield points
- Antiphospholipid antibodies cause a paradoxically hypercoagulable state despite prolonging in-vitro clotting tests - raised APTT is a lab artefact, NOT a bleeding tendency
- Key lab pattern: raised APTT + normal PT + thrombocytopenia (NOT thrombocytosis) + APTT does not correct on mixing with normal plasma
- Clinical features: arterial thrombosis, venous thrombosis, recurrent miscarriage (≥3 consecutive or ≥1 second-trimester loss), livedo reticularis
APS causes thrombocytopenia - never thrombocytosis. Raised APTT with normal PT + recurrent miscarriage = APS until proven otherwise.
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